


A Snowy Meeting

by Katsuko_Maru



Series: Hidden Meetings [1]
Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-10-27 23:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10819002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katsuko_Maru/pseuds/Katsuko_Maru
Summary: What were the chances that Kaito's class trip would be to the same town that Conan's group was visiting while investigating a major case? Apparently pretty good.What changes will come about as a result of this chance meeting?Based on Detective Conan Movie 15: Quarter of Silence and the 6th Detective Conan Magic Kaito Special: Love on the Ski Slope on Christmas Eve





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In honor of Shinichi's birthday I decided to start uploading this here at AO3. It was originally posted at FF, though I'm doing a few edits as I bring it over. 
> 
> As stated in the summary this is based around Movie 15: Quarter of Silence and the Detective Conan Magic Kaito 2011 Christmas Special (The 6th special) - NOT episode 13 of Magic Kaito 1412: Get Away From Him. The two ARE very similar but the ski competition entries that appear are different. 
> 
> If it's not apparent by now - this story will contain MAJOR SPOILERS for both the movie and the episodes mentioned above (both since they're so similar). This chapter will focus mostly on the special while the rest will focus on the movie. Personally, I'd recommend having watched both before reading (especially the movie, its amazing), though I've tried to write in such a way that it's understandable even without having done so. 
> 
> Happy reading! ^_~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The image below is the cover image for this story (thanks to Yuutousei for helping me realize how to do this!). Neither image was mine originally though I did crop and combine them.

  

* * *

 

Conan stretched as he stood up from the dining room table. He watched as Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko took off towards the exit at high speed with determined looks on their faces.

"Where are you guys going?" Ran called after them.

"Outside! There's still a short while before the sun sets," Mitsuhiko explained as the group paused.

"We want to see which one of us can make the best snowman, and we might not have time tomorrow since we'll be busy with the festival!"

"Come on, hurry up!" Genta whined. "We've already lost too much time thanks to that old detective!"

Conan shook his head slightly when he heard Genta's continued complaints. _'Can't really blame Genta though_ ,' Conan thought, _'That interview_ did _take a lot longer than usual. I wonder how Watanabe's co-workers put up with such a slow-talking co-worker?'_

As the (real) kids disappeared outside, Conan began to review the facts he had so far about Hikawa's murder (the medical examiner may not have confirmed it as a murder yet, but he had no doubt as to what would be found). ' _I've already figured out the "how" but as for the "why" and "who" of the case…_ '

His thoughts were interrupted as the Shounen Tantei-dan ran back inside, their eyes wide.

"Hey guys! There's something going on over on the ski slope!" Genta announced loudly as they stopped in front of them.

"Yeah! There's a big crowd gathered at the bottom and a bunch of people were heading up on the lifts!" Mitsuhiko nodded.

"And the people on the lifts were all wearing costumes!" Ayumi finished, throwing her arms into the air for emphasis.

"On the ski slope?" Conan glanced out the window at the orange sky. The sun was well on its way to setting, and there weren't any night lights on the slope so anyone going up at this time would be skiing or boarding in complete darkness within the hour.

"Shall we go and check it out?" Ran smiled as she leaned down to their level.

"Can we?" The three asked simultaneously. At Ran's nod they cried out happily and took off running again.

"Oi oi…haven't we had enough excitement for one day?" Kogoro grumbled as he watched them go.

"It's exactly because of that 'excitement' that I think they should go!" Ran turned to him with a slight scowl, hands moving to rest on her hips. "Hopefully it'll help get their minds off of what happened…"

"Yeah," Sonoko nodded. "A little normalcy will do us all good."

"'Normalcy,' huh?" Ai, walked up to him with a smirk, speaking so only he could hear, "Around you, this pretty much _is_ normal, isn't it, Shinigami-san?"

"Shut up…" Conan grumbled. "And anyway, how does 'people on ski lifts wearing costumes' count as normal anyway?"

Ai's only answer was a slight widening of her smirk.

Kogoro and Agasa both excused themselves and went back to their rooms, although the latter received a stern warning from Ai against sneaking any junk food while she was away (with the accompanying glare promising hell if she was disobeyed). The others all decided to go see what was going on at the slope.

Conan arrived just in time to see a giant pink chicken and giant green octopus come skiing down the hill (or in the chicken's case, rolling).

A quick inquiry of the surrounding crowd members produced the somewhat confusing explanation that it was a "Holy Night Masquerade Pair-skiing Contest" that was being held by a high school class from Tokyo's Ekoda High School on a school trip. Three men and a woman sat with number paddles at a table near the end of run, a plaque declaring them to be the judges of the contest.

Conan looked back towards the slope with a raised eyebrow, wondering what the criteria were for pairing up the costumes. ' _What exactly do dinosaurs and bugs have in common…?'_

"Ah! It's Kamen Yaiba!" The Shounen Tantei-dan cried out and pointed happily at the next pair. A moment later, their smiles fell off their faces faster than their idol toppled backwards into the snow. As the crowd around them burst out laughing the three looked at one another with identical deadpan expressions.

"Or not," they pronounced together.

"Geez, if he was gonna dress up as Kamen Yaiba, the least he could do was be cool!" Genta grumbled while the other two nodded sagely. Conan couldn't decide whether to laugh, sweatdrop, or be happy that they'd realized the truth (there was a time when they wouldn't have).

The crowd's laughter (and the judges' low scores) continued on for a while as the sky steadily grew darker.

"Entry number 18, Snow Queen and Yeti!"

The crowd, many of whom had tears in their eyes from laughing so hard, let out a gasp of awe as the pair skated over the crest. The judges' near perfect score told Conan that nobody else had noticed how long it had taken the pair to reach the bottom (suggesting that at least one or, more likely, both had crashed out of their sight line). He would admit though that the woman did seem to know how to ski and that her costume was quite beautiful, although he imagined it didn't provide much protection against the winter cold.

As the crowd cheered, the last rays of the sun began to fade, but Conan overheard a few people in the crowd talking about another student who hadn't gone yet.

 _'This "Aoko" isn't still planning to go is she? It'll be almost pitch black at the top by now!'_ Conan looked up towards the crest worriedly, only to blink in surprise. Pairs of white lights were descending from the top of the slope, creating a runway in the snow.

"It's Kaito! Kaito's magic!" Someone in the crowd cried out.

"What magic?" Conan muttered quietly as he rolled his eyes, "it's just lights buried beneath the snow." _'Although the time and effort it must have taken to set this up…'_ He shook his head slightly. This "Kaito" guy was dedicated, he'd give him that.

The final pair came over the crest and into sight and Conan nearly groaned when he realized what the pair was dressed as. _'Kaitou Kid and a bride? Seriously? I bet the girl's another Kid fan like Sonoko. Speaking of – '_

"Kid-sama!?" Conan winced at Sonoko's shocked, high-pitched squeal. Ran quickly reminded her that this was a costume contest, at which point Sonoko began to shift towards outrage ("How dare he dress up like my Kid-sama!").

Conan pointedly ignored Sonoko and re-focused on the skiing pair. As his eyes landed back on her, the bride, Aoko, shifted too much of her weight and began to fall backwards, but before she could fall she was easily scooped up by "Kid" and carried, appropriately, bridal-style. Then, with a sudden burst of speed, Kid bent his knees and shifted both his and the Aoko's weight, flipping them both high into the air in a dramatic back flip. He landed perfectly, and then slid to a halt in front of the wildly clapping crowd as the announcer, apparently the class's teacher, enthusiastically announced the pair's winning perfect score from the stunned judges.

Conan barely heard any of this however. He was too focused on studying Kuroba Kaito as he took off his hat and bowed to the crowd. He looked familiar – and he didn't just mean the resemblance to Conan's true form.

_'He wouldn't…would he…? Oh hell, who am I kidding? This is Kid we're talking about! Dressing up as himself for a costume contest is just the sort of crazy stunt he'd get a kick out of!'_

He shook his head in irritated exasperation as he maneuvered through the crowd towards the makeshift podium that had been set up.

He reached the podium just as the victorious pair stepped down and the crowd began to disperse. Conan took the opportunity to jump up onto the vacated podium so he would be more-or-less at eye-level with the caped teen.

"You're pretty amazing, aren't you, nii-san?" Conan called out once he was in place. The comment was completely innocent – no one would even know who he was talking to unless they saw who he was looking at and those who did see would just assume he was talking about the magician's skiing. There was nothing about the comment itself that should be alarming, and yet, for just a moment, white shoulders stiffened. The tension was just barely perceptible by a crease in his jacket between his shoulder blades, and it was gone instantly – if Conan hadn't been looking for it, he'd have missed it altogether. But he had been looking and he had noticed it.

Conan let a slightly ironic smirk settle on his lips. _'Nobody can maintain a perfect poker face twenty-four, seven, Kid.'_ He knew that fact better than most.

The teen turned to look at him with an innocently curious look on his face. The look was so sincere that Conan almost doubted what he'd seen. Almost.

"Are you talking to me, boya?" The teen, Kuroba Kaito, asked with a small tilt of his head. At Conan's nod, he turned to his classmates with a grin, "Looks like I made another fan! You guys go on ahead while I sign autographs!" He waived at the various affirmative responses then turned back towards Conan with an easy smile on his face.

 _'There's not a hint of visible tension on him,'_ Conan observed with a bit of admiration. Outwardly, he cocked an eyebrow. "An autograph, huh? Will you sign it as Kuroba Kaito or Kaitou Kid? If I get a choice, I'd prefer the latter – it'll probably be a bit more useful." _'At the very least it would be a potential bribe for Sonoko…'_

"Sorry to disappoint you, boya," Kuroba chuckled, "but I'm just dressing up as Kid for my class's event."

"And that's why I said you're amazing – it takes a special kind of insanity to wear that in public as yourself, Kid," Conan smirked.

"Didn't I just say –"

"Don't bother," Conan interrupted, letting his childish mask fall away completely. "Have you forgotten? I've seen your face before. You weren't wearing a mask when you disguised as me for the play with the Jewel of Destiny. We're not identical, it's true. Your hair is much wilder, and your face a bit more rounded; the eyes aren't quite right either, but hair gel, make-up, and contacts would fix that easily."

He paused for a moment, but when Kuroba remained silent he continued. "Your reaction to my initial call to you was the last bit of proof I needed. For just a split second your shoulders tensed. There was nothing in my words that would have caused that, which meant you were reacting to my voice. 'Kuroba Kaito' has never met 'Edogawa Conan,' but Kaitou Kid has," he shrugged. "It's not enough for an actual conviction, but it's more than enough to convince me."

"You say it's not enough for a conviction, even if I was Kid," Kuroba said after a brief silence, and Conan could tell he was choosing his words carefully, "if that's so, then why are you here? What do you plan to do?"

"Nothing," Conan smiled and shook his head.

"What?"

Conan looked up at the sky, where he could just make out the first stars of the night, as he fought back a grin. The dumbstruck look the other's face was hilarious.

"I said I'm not going to do anything," Conan repeated softly. "I have no intention of revealing who you are to anyone else."

"But why? You're a detective aren't you?"

"I am," Conan nodded then glanced back at Kaito with small grin, "which is something I've never told 'Kuroba,' by the way," he held a hand up as the other teen opened his mouth to respond, "as for why…for one, I can't say anything – not without revealing myself, anyway. But, even more than that…I don't want to."

"'Don't want to'?" Kuroba repeated softly, his head tilted to the side.

Conan shrugged, "You've known who I am for a while now, yet you haven't told anyone or used the information for any kind of leverage over me. You've even helped me keep my secret from Ran. I'm not so crass that I would forget all of that and turn you in the moment I discover your identity, especially since it was by a complete fluke."

"If that's so, then why confront me like this?"

"To confirm my suspicions, for one thing," he might have also wanted to see if he could shake the unshakable Kaitou Kid a little, but he'd keep that bit to himself. "Also, I guess…to even the playing field? I know that you know about me, so…" Conan shrugged again.

"I…see."

Kuroba's comment was followed by several minutes of silence. They had long since been the only ones still in the area – everyone else had gone back indoors. The conversation didn't feel over yet, but neither of the two quite knew what to say next.

"There's something I want to ask you," Conan said, finally breaking the silence as he gave in to the desire to ask something he'd been wondering about since he'd first heard the other's name.

"What's that?"

"You're name…Kuroba," Conan turned to look at the sky again as he started awkwardly, somewhat unsure of how best to phrase his question, "are you…related to Kuroba Toichi?"

He felt more than saw Kuroba turn to face him more, "Yeah, he's my father."

Conan nodded as his suspicions were confirmed, although he continued to stare at the stars above, "I thought so." _'A world-renowned magician who died around the same time the original Kaitou Kid disappeared from public eye._ ' He was a bit surprised nobody had made the connection. Then again, considering his successor, even if they had they most likely wouldn't have been able to find any proof.

"Did you…know him?" Kuroba's voice had changed subtly. Conan glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, but chose to ignore the change and instead focused on his question.

"My mother did. Kuroba Toichi was the magician who taught her the art of disguise." _'He's also one of her "seven knights,"'_ but he wasn't about to go into that. "Can't say I'm too thankful for that, though."

"Why's that?" Kuroba quirked an eyebrow at him. "Hasn't it given you an edge in seeing through Kid's disguises?"

"I'd have been able to spot you regardless," Conan scoffed. "Even if it had helped though, it wouldn't be worth the number of times she's used her disguises to mess with me."

"Something tells me there are some interesting stories behind that sentence," Kuroba grinned after a moment.

"You have no idea," Conan rolled his eyes. Kuroba opened his mouth to reply when a distant shout reached them.

"Conan-kun! What are you still doing over there? It's time to come in!" Ran waved at him.

"I guess that's my cue," Conan jumped down from the podium and started to walk away but after a few steps he paused and glanced back with a smirk. "Don't think this means that I've given up on catching Kaitou Kid, Kuroba Kaito."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Tantei-kun," the thief answered with his own signature smirk before letting it smooth out into a normal smile "In the meantime, perhaps I'll see you around."

Conan smiled back, "yeah, maybe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm aware Kaito describes Aoko's costume as a princess, but in the special there's no description of their outfits to the crowd and without that I believe most would think "bride" before "princess" when seeing that white dress so that's what I went with. 
> 
> In truth, I did think of updating the story to reflect the more recent 1412 episode, but ultimately decided against it since I felt it would be a betrayal of this story's origins: the moment of inspiration for this story came to me when Conan made his usual cameo appearance in the special and I noticed he was wearing the same outfit that he wears in the movie. 
> 
> Chapter 2 should be up within a week. 
> 
> Happy Birthday Shinichi!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 2! You might have noticed that the story's chapter count has changed. It's because I've decided to change how the chapters are broken up. 
> 
> In case it's confusing, here's an overview of the dialogue types:  
> "words" = normal dialogue  
>  _'words'_ = thoughts  
>  **"words"** = words heard over phone, radio, etc.
> 
>   
> **Final warning: starting this chapter, this story WILL spoil the ending of Movie 15: Quarter of Silence. You've been warned.**  
>  Happy reading! ^_~

* * *

 

 

"That diamond dust was _so_ pretty!"

"I know! I'm so glad I got to see it!"

Kaito smiled at his classmates' exclamations as they made their way into the dining hall, their anger towards him for rousing and chasing them outside with a literal explosion of magic earlier that morning clearly forgotten.

"Still, Kaito-kun could have just told us!"

Well, mostly forgotten.

Kaito was currently sitting at a secluded window booth. He'd been there since everyone else had gone back to bed after seeing the diamond dust, but Kaito hadn't seen the point in joining them since he hadn't really slept that night anyway (luckily, Kaito had never needed much sleep to function anyway). So he'd made his way here to focus on the thoughts that had kept him up.

Tantei-kun knew his identity.

That thought, in one variation or another, had been chasing itself around in Kaito's mind since his encounter with the miniaturized detective the night before. At that time, only his poker face had prevented Kaito from completely freaking out when he first heard Tantei-kun's voice. Most of the interaction from that point on had been done on autopilot, and he'd spent the better part of the night going over the entire meeting in his head, trying to take everything in.

Kaito would be lying if he said that Conan knowing his identity didn't make him nervous. It wasn't that he thought Tantei-kun would reveal his secret - he didn't. Even without the assurances the detective had noted yesterday, he knew that Tantei-kun had more honor than that. Still, having anyone, much less a _detective_ , discover his secret went against every Kaitou instinct he'd developed.

 _'But whether I like it or not, it's already happened. The real question is: what am I gonna do from here?'_ Tantei-kun had made it clear that he wouldn't use the information he'd gained. Essentially, he was leaving everything in Kaito's hands. Kaito could do nothing, and they would simply go back to how things had been before Tantei-kun had learned his identity. However, there was also the other option, the one he'd hinted at the previous night, and to which Conan hadn't refused.

_"In the meantime, perhaps I'll see you around."_

_"Yeah, maybe."_

Kaito could choose to approach Edogawa Conan as Kuroba Kaito rather than Kaitou Kid.

Kaito was torn over what he wanted to do. On the one hand, his Kaitou instincts were screaming for the first option, but he also felt a definite draw towards the second. It was the first time Kaito's two "identities" had conflicted so strongly over something.

The Kid part of him recognized the folly in approaching Conan. Even if he accepted that Conan wouldn't expose him, just associating with him as Kaito would create a link between Kid and Kaito that could potentially be connected and his secret revealed. After all, Conan's connection to Kid as the "Kid Killer" was well known. Plus, if the organization after Pandora ever figured out who he really was, as they had his father, Conan could be put in danger.

On the other hand, the Kaito part of him saw the detective as a sort of kindred spirit – ironic as that was. Plus, from what Kaito had seen, Tantei-kun was the type of person who could use as many people watching his back as he could get. The guy was a magnet for trouble.

The sound of explosions in the distance drew Kaito from his musings. Believing they were fireworks, he glanced at his watch thinking he'd somehow missed the start of the ceremony, but he still had nearly an hour left before it was supposed to start.

 _'Then what in the world...?'_ Kaito's mind stuttered to stop when he caught sight of two columns of black smoke rising into the sky. Judging from their positions, he figured the smoke to be coming from the communication stations. Pulling out his cell phone, Kaito confirmed that the three bars he'd had the last time he'd glanced at the screen were gone.

 _'Now, what are the chances this is just an accident?'_ Kaito thought derisively as he scanned the area. Spotting a glint from a pair of very familiar glasses, he barely resisted the urge to shake his head. _'With Tantei-kun in the area? Zero.'_

As he watched, Conan pulled something out of his pocket and held it to his mouth. Kaito realized he must be using one of those detective badges he and the other kids in his group had. ' _They really are handy aren't they? I wonder how they work…_ ' Kaito paused in his thoughts as he noticed the expression on the tiny critic's face. He was glaring out over the area, his whole body looked tense and his fists were clenched at his sides.

 _'What's got you so upset, Tantei-kun?'_ Kaito watched him for a couple moments longer before making his decision. Getting up, he pulled his coat out of nowhere and quickly made his way towards the door, easily staying out of his classmates' sights. Within moments he was out the door and striding towards the porch where Conan stood. As he drew within earshot, he held up his hand and called out.

"Yo!"

Conan jerked as if shocked and spun his whole body around at him. Kaito kept his friendly smile in place, but frowned internally. _'Something's definitely up.'_ It wasn't like Conan to be caught so unaware; he usually seemed to have a sixth sense about being watched (it was one of his more annoying traits – at least where Kid's heists were concerned). But not only had Conan failed to notice Kaito watching him, he apparently hadn't even noticed him approaching. Whatever was going on, it was definitely bigger than the detective's usual murder mystery – which said quite a bit about the guy's life, now that he thought about it.

"Kid…" Conan's eyes widened as the pseudonym left his mouth. "Or, I guess since the contest's over, it's Kaito-nii-san now right?"

Kaito stopped in front of him and gave him a sardonic look, "I'll forgive the slip if you drop the 'nii-san.' No one's around anyway, and it's creepy knowing who you are."

Conan grinned slightly, "Fair enough, Kuroba-san"

"Just Kuroba's fine," Kaito grinned, "I've never been one for formality."

Conan shook his head, "Somehow, I'm not surprised. Fine, then – Kuroba. Did you want something?"

Kaito let his expression grow serious, "Something's going on, isn't it?" He hooked his thumb in the direction of the still-rising smoke.

All traces of amusement vanished from the detective's face as he looked at the smoke, "Yeah."

 _'Not gonna elaborate, huh?'_   Kaito sighed internally after several moments of silence. However, he knew that it would be pointless to ask questions. The lack of information annoyed him, but he couldn't say it was unexpected. He'd observed the other enough to know that that was just the way Tantei-kun was. Unless he was sure of his deductions, he rarely spoke his thoughts on a case. It was a good policy for a detective to have, since it prevented the wrong person from being accused, but it also meant that Tantei-kun was pretty much on his own in an investigation. It was a policy that he knew had gotten the shrunken teen in trouble more than once before.

A distant greeting announced the arrival of one of the kids in Conan's group: Haibara Ai, the girl Kaito suspected was the same as Tantei-kun (that, or creepiest kid he'd ever met, _including_ Conan) – which put a stop to any further conversation.

"I suppose that's my cue," Kaito grinned. But before he left he clapped the detective on the shoulder, causing him to stumble forward slightly. "Don't go getting in over your head again, Tantei-kun. I can't guarantee I'll be there the next time you get thrown out a window."

"Barou…" Conan grumbled as he regained his balance. "As if I need you to."

Kaito just grinned, gave a two fingered salute and walked off. He wandered back to his lodge and the seat he'd vacated earlier. Only when he was seated did he pull out the tiny earpiece receiver that paired with the transceiver he'd attached to the back of Conan's coat, tucked up beneath the hood.

He couldn't really say why he'd done it. Tantei-kun had demonstrated numerous times that he was anything but the helpless child he appeared to be. Despite that, Kaito just couldn't shake the bad feeling he'd gotten as he watched Conan stare out over the frozen ground. It was the same feeling he'd gotten when Tantei-kun had faced down the leader of that fake terrorist group on the airship after he and his friends had been caught.

* * *

 

 _'Sometimes, I_ really _hate when I'm right_ ,' Kaito swore as he raced over snow-packed roads. He'd been listening in on the detective's progress for about an hour while he'd dodged bullets on a turbo powered snowboard, then shared his deductions with the other children while they traversed through a long cave and up the dam's discharge conduit (Kaito had only been able to shake his head in admiration at the leaps in logic that had led Conan to this village). He'd begun to think his intuition had been off this time when Conan had discovered the unconscious workers and bombs already set up on the dam.

Luckily, Conan appeared to have somehow avoided being completely incapacitated by the stun gun when the criminal had snuck up on him, but it was obvious that the detective was in trouble.

Unable to sit still any longer, Kaito'd once again slipped unnoticed out of the lodge at that point. Unfortunately, Kaito didn't have his glider with him – or any of his Kid equipment for that matter. He hadn't had a heist planned, after all. It wasn't worth the risk of someone accidentally finding something in the chaos and confusion of a school trip, especially with a certain half-British detective in his class, who he knew would just _love_ the opportunity to go through Kaito's things (although a case had apparently detained Hakuba at the last minute and prevented him from coming on the trip). All Kaito had with him besides his usual stash of supplies were a few small gadgets he'd been tinkering with, which he'd made sure to keep on his person at all times. Even the outfit he'd worn during last night's contest had been Fujie-kun's hastily (but skillfully) adjusted costume.

Without a glider, the quickest way to the dam would be by car, but with the ceremony about the start, the only way that would happen is if Kaito hot-wired one (something he _really_ didn't want to do in his civilian guise). So Kaito continued to run around the village, hoping something would spark an idea.

In his ear, Kaito heard a mockingly familiar sound: two pairs of feet – one large, one small – pounding in a stairwell. Tantei-kun was completely on the defensive, forced to run through the empty dam while a madman with a gun took potshots at him.

 _'Dammit!_ ' Kaito thought as another shot went off in his ear, followed by the clattering of falling debris. It had become abundantly clear from early in the chase that the criminal was toying with Conan - laughing as an (apparent) child ran for his life. As Kaito came to a brief stop behind a building to catch his breath, he heard the criminal's voice echoing through the receiver.

" **Run away, Run away! You'd better hurry - here comes another one!"** The man's laughter was punctuated by yet another gunshot.

Kaito growled, glancing over in the direction of the village parking lot, beginning to reconsider his decision to not "borrow" a car, when a loud familiar voice stopped him.

"Bombs!?"

"You're too loud! We only confided in you because you're the famous detective Mouri-san. If others hear of this, it'll likely result in panic!"

Kaito glanced around the corner and confirmed that it was Mouri Kogoro's group. They were currently talking with two workers from the dam who had come down to attend the ceremony. As he listened to the workers explain how they were heading back to the dam to check on their co-workers, Kaito realized Lady Luck had come through for him again.

 _'That's my ride_!' Kaito grinned. _'Doubt they'll let some random guy suddenly ride with them though, so I need to find a way to separate one of them from the group…'_

Again, Lady Luck smiled upon him as the younger of the two dam workers announced that he'd go ahead and bring the car around.

_'Bingo!'_

However, as Kaito was taking a short cut to the parking lot he caught sight of a very familiar head of bushy brown hair.

 _'Aoko…'_ Kaito pulled up short. Seeing his childhood friend reminded Kaito that it wasn't just Tantei-kun in danger right now.

' _If those bombs detonate and the dam collapses…'_ Kaito disliked thinking about things in worse-case-scenario terms, but in this situation there was too much at stake to not take it into consideration.

"What should I do…?" Kaito growled under his breath. He was torn. Considering the village's location, any sort of evacuation would take time, and there was no telling when that madman might detonate. But if he could get to the dam in time, he might be able to do something to prevent the dam from collapsing in the first place…but if he didn't make it in time and no one was evacuated….

"Kaito!"

The magician was jerked from his spiraling thoughts and turned to see Aoko waving at him, but his focus was immediately drawn away to the person who'd joined her since he'd last looked – a man whose blonde hair was shining in the winter sunlight.

 _'Hakuba…! That's it!'_ Kaito sent a silent thank you to Lady Luck for her special attention today as he quickly made his way over to the two. He didn't have much time.

"Look who managed to make it!" Aoko gestured unnecessarily to Hakuba.

"Well, the case wasn't _that_ difficult," Hakuba smiled as he flipped his bangs, "I was able to finish it relatively quickly."

 _'Dying his hair will_ not _help your case here, Kaito,'_ he silently reminded himself as he watched the detective's posturing.

"That aside, I heard you made an interesting choice of costume in the contest last night," Hakuba smirked at him. "I'm sorry I missed it."

"Really?" Kaito smiled, silently snickering as he saw the detective tense at the unexpected response. "That's too bad! Here, let me tell you _all_ about it! I'll even show you where it took place!" He grabbed the stunned detective's wrist and began pulling him in the general direction of the slope the class had used the night before.

"Just a – Kuroba-kun!"

"Aoko!" Kaito shouted back over his shoulder, ignoring the blonde's protests, "you go on ahead! We won't be long!"

"O-okay…" Aoko blinked dumbly for a moment before shaking her head, "make sure you're not late for ceremony!"

"Got it!" Kaito waved as he dragged Hakuba around the corner of the closest building.

"Kuroba-kun, release me!" Having apparently recovered from his shock, Hakuba wrenched at his arm. Unfortunately for him, Kaito had chosen that moment to let him go (they were out of sight, after all, which was all he'd wanted). He honestly hadn't intended for the Brit to over balance and fall backwards on his ass; it was total coincidence. That didn't mean Kaito didn't enjoy the sight.

"Kuroba-kun," Hakuba growled as he pushed himself to his feet and brushed off the snow, "what in the wor–"

"Just shut up and listen," Kaito cut him off, once again stunning the detective into silence. He quickly relayed the conversation he'd overheard between the dam workers and Mouri's group.

"That sleeping Kogoro, he thinks the dam's in danger," Kaito decided to add, just to be sure blonde detective got it. He wasn't even technically lying considering who the _real_ sleeping Kogoro was. "Something about a connection to Governor Asakura and the Touto Line incident?"

"A connection?" Hakuba looked startled before setting into his usual thinking pose.

 _'Come on! Tantei-kun figured it out with a lot less than that!'_ Kaito grit his teeth as he waited impatiently. He knew he only had a few minutes left to intercept the dam worker.

"It couldn't be…!" Hakuba suddenly jerked up, eyes sharp. "The governor was the main person in charge of the building of this dam – the culprit could very well target it, like he did the Touto line!"

 _'Yes! You_ are _a decent detective!'_ Kaito inwardly cheered while outwardly he gaped at the blonde. "But…if that's the case, wouldn't the best time to attack be today? The dam's running on a skeleton crew because of the festival!"

"Yeah," Hakuba nodded, a serious look on his face. "But without knowing for certain, it'll be difficult to get anyone to take action…"

"But that's…!" Kaito looked at the ground and forced himself to count to five slowly in his head, long enough for an idea to believably occur to him. He couldn't afford for Hakuba to get suspicious now – if he thought the idea was pre-planned, he'd think it was a trick by Kid and get distracted. Finally, he looked back up, a determined look on his face. "Hakuba, you do what you can here!"

"What?" Hakuba turned to him, startled, "wait, then what are you going to do?"

"I'll try to get confirmation," Kaito grinned, making it look forced, as he dug in his pocket. "Those workers have probably already left by now, so I'll go up the mountain to try to get a view of the dam." He pulled out a small round object. He fiddled a little with it for moment, taking a piece out, then tossed the object to Hakuba.

"What's this?" Hakuba asked as he looked at the object suspiciously; he held it tentatively, as if afraid it might explode in his hand.

"Something for a new prank I was planning," Kaito donned a sheepish look. In reality, it was something he'd been planning to use for his next heist, but he'd just come up with something else. This was more important, and he'd taken out the only Kid-related component. "It can be triggered from several kilometers away. Don't worry," he added hastily seeing the alarmed look on the other's face, "I took out the dye bomb. But it'll still vibrate if I trigger it. Keep it in your pocket – if it goes off, it'll mean I've confirmed our suspicions."

"Alright," Hakuba nodded after a brief pause and slipped it into his pocket, "but only trigger it if you're _certain_ that there's something wrong with the dam."

"Got it!" Kaito quickly turned and dashed off. As soon as he was out of Hakuba's eyesight, he adjusted his course and sprinted as fast as he could towards the parking lot.

In Kaito's ear, he heard the clang of yet another door being thrown open, followed by the muffled sounds of feet running through snow and, a few seconds later, another gunshot.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit where it's due: the movie quotes used in this fanfic are from DCTP's subs.
> 
> Also, a quick note regarding Hakuba: it's true that, according to the specials' timeline, Hakuba hadn't appeared by the time "Love on the Ski Slope on Christmas eve" aired, however in the original manga Hakuba appears before the Blue Birthday Heist which was the special before this one - so since I'd wanted to have them interacting, I tweaked things a little.
> 
> Thanks for reading chapter 2! I hope you enjoyed it. Comments are always appreciated!  
> See you in chapter 3!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 3! 
> 
> Dialogue formatting is the same as in chapter 2:  
> "words" = normal dialogue  
>  _'words'_ = thoughts  
>  **"words"** = words heard over phone, radio, etc.
> 
> Happy reading! ^_~

* * *

 

Kaito sat tensed in the seat as the car passed the boundary of the village, paying just enough attention to the conversation in the car to answer on autopilot when addressed. The majority of his attention was focused on the sounds in his ear. He barely managed to hide a wince as he heard Conan stumble and hit the ground.

**"Idiot of a brat! If you simply enjoyed the Snow Festival like you were supposed to…you could have died without any pain. Out with it! Where are your friends!?"**

**"I don't have any friends with me…"**

_'Just like on the airship…'_ Kaito thought, gritting his teeth as he heard the culprit threaten Conan with the stun gun. _'How low can this guy get!?'_ As far as that guy knew, Conan was a genuine child – and he was planning to torture him!

Suddenly a sound Kaito recognized as Tantei-kun's snowboard powering up filled his ears.

**"Bastard!"**

Another gunshot sounded and Conan cried out. For an instant Kaito was a terrified that the bullet had found its mark before his brain processed that Tantei-kun's cry had sounded more surprised than pained – and the sound of the bullet's impact sounded the same as it had before, when it was hitting the ground. Most likely, the bullet hitting the ground had caused the board to be thrown off balance, sending the detective flying. The rolling he'd heard also seemed in line with that.

 _'Please let that be the case…_ ' Kaito prayed as he listened to Tantei-kun struggling to get up.

A dull thud, accompanied by a sharp cry of pain forced Kaito to bite the inside of his lip to keep his expression clear.

 _'Poker face…never forget your poker face_ ,' even as he chanted his father's old adage, as he listened to the next few moments he knew his eyes had to be blazing. He turned to look casually out the window to prevent the others from seeing.

" **You brat…! The nerve of you! I don't have time to play with you!"** The man's words were accompanied by several more thuds and grunts of pain.

Kaito vaguely registered the taste of copper on his tongue – a distant part of his mind identified it as blood coming from the lip he'd bitten too hard – as he listened to Conan groan in pain.

" **There ain't much time, so I'll trust you've really come alone."** As he spoke, Yamao's vocal timbre dropped a couple notes; it indicated to Kaito that he was getting serious, and the brief pause that followed gave Kaito a very bad feeling. **"Don't worry. In fifteen minutes, when the explosions start…Heaven'll immediately become really crowded! Farewell…Brat!"**

 _'No! Tantei-kun!'_ Kaito's heart seemed to freeze as a gunshot echoed through his ear. His body went numb as his brain began to go blank. ' _No. It…can't be. It can't…_ '

A cry of pain sounded in his ear, but it took several seconds for Kaito's brain to comprehend the sound.

_'Wait…that's…not Tantei-kun's voice…?'_

" **Mizuki-san…"** Conan's familiar voice sent a jolt through Kaito and he blinked as the world came back into focus.

Kaito quickly got his bearings about him. He glanced at his companions in the car, but it seemed no one had noticed the few moments that, he was sure, his poker face had completely crumbled.

" **Mizuki… Damn you!"** Kaito heard the madman grunting in pain, followed by another shot.

" **Give it up, Yamao-kun."** A new, female voice spoke up, **"Are you alright, Conan-kun?"**

At Conan's confirmation, Kaito finally allowed himself to relax. He allowed his attention to wonder, but the familiar _snick!_ of Conan's watch activating instinctively had him on alert again.

" **I am a good shot,"** the woman was saying.

" **Yeah, it seems that way."** Kaito could hear someone walking around for a few moments before Conan suddenly yelled, **"Look out, Mizuki-san!"**

The sound of a struggle echoed through the earpiece concluding with the now-semi-traditional sound of the culprit falling unconscious via sleeping dart.

Moments later, Conan's friends arrived, and Kaito was finally able to sit back and breathe, listening in as more revelations were made. All of it led up to a dramatic and tearful conclusion that Kaito thought would have been perfectly suited for the big screen.

Too bad it didn't last.

**"Edogawa-kun! The light is blinking!"**

**"What!?"**

The fear evident in the Haibara girl's and Tantei-kun's voices gave Kaito a pretty good idea of what "light" was being referred to, though he prayed he was wrong. Kaito held his breath in the tense seconds that followed before Conan's next words.

**"Everyone, run for it! It's gonna explode!"**

Kaito swore loudly and profusely in his mind, employing every word he'd ever heard from Nakamori, as well as few of his own, while shocked gasps rang through the group at the dam.

**"Stop wasting time! Hurry!"**

Kaito had never heard the detective so frantic before. Hearing that, Kaito instantly recalled what that madman had said earlier: _'"In fifteen minutes, when the explosions start..."'_   His blood ran cold as he glanced at the car's radio clock. _'Tantei-kun's right, there's no time!'_

Kaito reached into his pocket and flipped the switch that would trigger the device he'd given Hakuba.

Kaito couldn't help but start a count in his head as he listened to the group hastily haul up the unconscious Yamao and start racing towards the edge of the dam; at 28 seconds, the first explosion vibrated harshly in his earpiece. It was quickly followed by several more, each one louder than the last as the blasts seemed to be chasing down the group on the dam. The chaos of their flight was nearly completely drowned out as the first series of blasts was shortly followed by more, until Kaito had counted at least a dozen.

As the explosions died down after a particularly large blast, Kaito noticed a new sound – a loud cracking - and he immediately realized what it had to be. _'T_ _he dam walls…! They're starting to collapse!'_ Kaito swore. _'Hurry Hakuba!'_ At this point, Kaito could only pray that the Brit was able to work fast enough, because from the sounds of it, the dam wasn't going to hold for long.

As if mocking his thoughts, another series of explosions rattled his eardrum.

**"What!? There are still bombs left!? Damn!"**

_'Oi! Don't tell me he's still on the dam!_ ' Kaito thought incredulously. As he heard Conan cry out in surprise at the loudest blast yet, he wanted to groan. ' _What happened to running for it, you idiot! Are you_ trying _to get yourself killed!? Get outta there!'_ Then, almost as though Conan had heard him, Kaito heard the sound of the detective's snowboard revving up, but his relief was short lived as the sound was suddenly drowned out by another huge explosion, followed by the unmistakable sound of rushing water.

A sudden jerking dragged Kaito's attention back to the car. The vehicle had just come around a bend in the road, and there, rushing towards him, was visual confirmation of what his ears had already told him. But finally, _finally_ , he could drop his poker face and _react_ to it, even if he still had to stay in character while doing so.

"This is bad! The dam is…"

His "co-worker" jumped in quickly, "It's dangerous! We hafta retreat!" He then proceeded to quickly flip the car around – an impressive maneuver on the narrow mountain road.

As the car raced away from the surging water, Kaito could hear Conan maneuvering around on his board. Kaito had no idea what he was doing, though judging from the couple exclamations he'd made aloud, he seemed to have some sort of plan.

Suddenly the sound of water in his earpiece grew significantly louder and he thought he heard something crackle and sizzle.

**"Damn! C **ome on, just hang in there a bit longer!** " **

_'It almost sounds like he's_ riding _on the water!'_ Kaito looked out the opposite window, past the driver and towards the raging water. _'I really hope you know what you're doing, Tantei-kun!'_

"Hey!" Kogorou leaned forward in his seat to look at him. "If all the water comes down at once, what'll happen to the village?"

"It'll be really bad!" Kaito told him, staying in character. _'Do you not see that huge wall of water? What do you_ think _will happen!?'_

"We don't know how bad it'll be!" Sonoko Suzuki screamed in his face, startling him out of his thoughts. _'Yikes! Yeah...definitely prefer her screaming at me from a_ distance _!'_

"Without a doubt…" his "co-worker" cut in before he could respond, "The whole village is gonna sink!"

"No way…" Ran breathed.

 _'It's fine if the village sinks, just so long as the people aren't in it when it does!'_ Kaito thought anxiously, his thoughts again turning to Hakuba and whether or not he'd succeeded in getting people to safety. He thought of Aoko. _'She's the type who'll stay behind to help others escape…but please Aoko, get outta there!'_

**"I can see it!"**

_'Huh? See what?'_

"Conan-kun!"

 _'What!?'_ Kaito whipped his head around to stare out his own window. _'It_ is _him! What're you up to, Tantei-kun?'_ He heard Kogoro voice the same question as Conan began moving up the unused ski slope. Suddenly, he turned on the board's turbo engine and began zigzagging up the slope. _'Oi! Don't tell me he's…!'_

"An avalanche!" Professor Agasa suddenly cried, realizing it at the same moment. "He's planning to start an avalanche to change the flow of the water!"

 _'Fighting one man-made natural disaster with another. Well, you can't accuse him of_ thinking _small…'_ Kaito thought incredulously as Ran opened the window and called out worriedly to her young charge _. 'But how many times does he have to risk his life in_ one day _before he's satisfied!?'_

A few moments later Kaito heard another sizzle in his earpiece, followed by a pop. On the slope, Kaito could just make out wisps of black smoke issuing from the back of the board.

" **Not now!** " Kaito heard him cry an instant before the boy toppled into the snow. The others in the car cried out in worry, but Kaito knew he was fine and could hear him cursing repeatedly up on the slope.

Before Kaito could do much more than register these facts, a rumbling began to churn in the air. Focusing back on the slope, Kaito saw the grooves Conan had made in the snow deepening.

 _'He did it!'_ Kaito thought happily, but moments later the feeling turned to horror as the lines marking the loosening snow kept spreading up the mountain, far past where the detective had stopped. A moment later, large sections of snow high up on the slope seemed to just slip off the mountain face and began rolling down. The avalanche quickly grew as it descended and soon it looked like a massive cloud was sliding down the mountain.

**"Not good!"**

The voice snapped Kaito's attention back to Conan, who had already gotten back on his board was racing back down the slope, with the avalanche bearing down behind him.

"That brat…freaking did it…" Kogoro breathed, staring at the spectacle white-faced.

"Run!" Sonoko screamed out the open window, urging him on.

For a few horrible seconds, Kaito watched the fog-like snow quickly gain on the detective. The gap between the two quickly shrunk to around 20 feet before stopping, as Conan's acceleration reached that of the avalanche, so that it was neither gaining on him nor falling behind. But such a situation was impossible to maintain; as soon as the steepness of the slope lessened, Conan's pace would drop and the avalanche would catch him. Kaito glanced toward the trees at the side of the ski run. They were acting as a funnel for the snow. Maybe, if Conan could reach those trees...

But even as he glanced back at Conan that option was ripped away as Conan accidentally hit a jump built onto the slope, and the air time radically reduced his speed.

"LOOK OUT!" Ran screamed as Conan went flying.

Kaito didn't know if Conan had heard her cry or if he'd simply spotted their vehicle, but for a moment, as time seemed to slow to a crawl while the avalanche consumed the gap, Kaito could see the detective looking directly their way. Kaito could see a look of surprise flash across his face, as he likely locked eyes with Ran, before he was swallowed by a wall of white.

"NOOOOO!" Ran screamed as the car rounded a bend in the road, getting them out of the avalanche's path just in time. In his ear, Kaito could hear the snow rumbling dully all around, and then silence.

As the driver stopped the car as fast as he dared on the narrow, snow-covered road, Kaito forced himself to turn away from the bend in the road behind them and looked out the front windshield to see the results of the detective's daring plan.

Below them, the avalanche hit the canyon floor just before the water collided into it with a deafening crash. The large mass of snow acted as a barricade that shifted the water just enough to avoid a direct hit on the village. It raked along the edge of the town, taking out the main bridge. A couple buildings along the bank were also destroyed, but Kaito wasn't too concerned about anyone being inside. Even if the occupants hadn't been at the main ceremony taking place near the center of town, those buildings would have been the first ones Hakuba evacuated.

Conan had done it – he'd saved the village.

The sound of a door opening brought Kaito's attention back to the car, where Ran hadn't waited for the vehicle to stop completely before jumping out and racing back the way they'd come.

 _'Right. Now to rescue the rescuer!'_ Kaito resolved as he quickly followed after Ran along with everyone else in the car.

"Conan-kun!" Ran began to cry out even before she reached the snow, and everyone else quickly began to do the same.

"Oh! That's right!" Kaito's would-be co-worker called out in surprise, stopping just before he reached the snow. "We have a couple avalanche probes in the car! I'll go get them!"

"No, let me!" Kaito spun around, knowing he'd be faster than the older man, "where are they?"

"Where they always are, the emergency kit in the trunk!"

 _'If they're always there, why didn't you remember them immediately?'_   Kaito thought uncharitably, dashing to the vehicle as fast as he could. Distantly, he recognized he was going much faster that his disguise had probably ever done in his life, but he doubted anyone would notice and even if they did, he'd just say it was adrenaline. He knew time was too critical right now; Kaito had learned about the golden 15 minute survival window for avalanches back when he first started skiing and snowboarding.

Reaching the vehicle, he pulled up on the trunk's handle only to find it locked. Throwing a few silent curses at the dam worker, Kaito didn't bother looking for the keys and instead pulled out a thin wire from one of his many hidden pockets. He had the lock picked and the trunk open less than five seconds later. Ten seconds after that, he'd found the kit, located the two probes and was running back towards the group, assembling the collapsible rods as he went.

"Here!" Kaito called as he tossed the second pole to the worker and quickly went to work. It'd been nearly five minutes since he'd lost sight of the detective.

The group worked frantically, digging and probing as fast and as much as they could but time continued to drag on without any results.

"How many minutes!?" Kogoro suddenly yelled out at them, "How many minutes have passed!?"

"Eleven minutes and 50 seconds," a new voice spoke quickly, interrupting the professor's hesitant answer. It was the Haibara girl, and the look on her face showed that she'd already grasped what had occurred. Behind her were the Shounen-tantei-dan, plus a man and woman Kaito realized must be the Mizuki-san and Mutou-san he'd heard talking at the dam. "It's been almost twelve minutes since the avalanche occurred!"

As the significance of that information sunk in and the new arrivals quickly began to dig as well, Kaito noticed Ran pulling out her phone.

 _'She's gonna try to call him!'_ Kaito realized, remembering what the man he was disguising as had said about the base station being near the dam and that it might be possible to get a signal up here. His fingers tightened around the pole as he continued probing while he continued to watch her out of the corner of his eye.

"It went through!" Ran suddenly shouted. Kaito instantly stopped his probing and stood up to listen for the sound of ringing while Mouri told everyone to do the same.

Kaito focused all of his attention on his ears, but all they met was silence. He was starting to grow desperate when he heard Ran gasp.

"There!"

The group quickly followed her and watched as she dug up Tantei-kun's cell phone.

Kaito quickly began searching that area along with everyone else, but after several moments of fruitless searching, the hope the phone had given the group began to fade. A couple feet away, Kaito heard the dam worker swear and looked over at him.

"Not here either?" Kaito asked, forcing himself to keep his voice calm and in character. By focusing on maintaining his poker face and the guise of his dam worker, Kaito was able to stave off the panic steadily building inside him – barely.

"No," the other worker answered.

 _'Dammit!'_ Kaito swore silently. _'Depending on when he lost the phone, he might not even_ be _in this area!'_

Kaito looked at Ran, who hadn't put her gloves back on after dialing Conan's cell phone, dig frantically in the snow until her fingers bled. That, more than anything else, really drove home for Kaito how desperate the situation really was, and he wasn't the only one.

"Conan-kun…will we never see him again?" Ayumi asked as tears gathered in her eyes.

"No way…" Mitsuhiko stared at the ground.

"You're kidding…right?" Genta looked around with a stunned look on his face.

"Conan-kun…" Ayumi's tears began to spill, "You can't die!"

Haibara remained silent, but Kaito could see her look at her watch, her face growing deadly serious at what she saw.

 _'No!'_ Kaito ground his teeth as he pressed the probe into the snow again and again, _'I'm_ not _giving up._ _Tantei-kun is_ not _going to die!_ You are not dying, Tantei-kun!'

"Ran! Don't give up!" Kogoro encouraged his daughter as he also dug into the snow again with renewed vigor.

As Kaito rapidly jabbed the pole repeatedly into the snow, he could see Ran pull out her cellphone again from the corner of his eyes.

 _'We already found Conan's cell phone…who could she possibly be calling?'_ Kaito thought, glancing repeatedly at her as she held the phone to her ear. He soon got his answer.

"Help us, Shinichi!"

Everyone in the group stopped and looked over at the girl as she clung to the phone, a desperate look on her tear-stained face.

 _'Her last hope of saving Conan, the shrunken Shinichi, is Shinichi himself,_ ' the irony of the situation wrenched at Kaito's heart. Then it dawned on him. ' _Wait…if she has a number for both Conan and Shinichi…does he have two phones!?'_

Just as Kaito tried to listen for the sound of another phone, there was a large crash, and something burst from the snow several yards from where the group stood. As Kaito realized what it was he very nearly laughed aloud.

_'I never thought I'd be so happy to see that hellish soccer ball!' He thought._

The other members of Conan's group realized what the soccer ball meant as well, and they all ran towards the spot it had emerged. And despite knowing that he should stay put a little longer, looking shocked and confused over the events like the older dam worker, Kaito quickly dropped his probe and joined them as Ran immediately dug around the hole the soccer ball had created. After a few moments, she uncovered the detective's face.

 _'He's so pale…'_ Kaito thought worriedly. He held his breath as he watched Ran pull the unresponsive boy into her arms.

"Conan-kun… Hang on, Conan-kun!" Ran begged, eyes welling up and holding him close when there was no response. "Please, Conan-kun…Open your eyes! Conan-kun!"

Ran's words appeared to reach the detective. As Kaito watched, he could see the boy's complexion improving, the deathly paleness fading away. Slowly, his eyes opened.

"Ran…neechan…" Conan's voice was weak and he was obviously exhausted, but he managed to give his childhood friend a small, frail smile nonetheless.

 _'Thank goodness…'_ Kaito finally let out his breath.

"Conan-kun!" Ayumi cried out and ran to his side hugging him. The other Shounen-tantei-dan soon joined her – sans the hug.

"You guys…so everyone made it off the dam alright?" Conan asked after extracting himself from Ayumi.

 _'This guy…'_ Kaito thought, half exasperated, half admiringly, as the group gave various affirmatives. _'And I bet the next thing out of his mouth'll be about Kitanosawa.'_

Sure enough, almost as soon as the thought had occurred to Kaito, Conan's eyes suddenly went wide and he struggled to get up, "The village!"

"It's fine!" Ran told him quickly, tightening her hold on the struggling boy – she was clearly not ready to let go of the precious little brother she'd nearly lost. Conan continued to struggle for a few moments more before accepting the futility of the endeavor.

Instead, he looked around at those gathered, an imploring look on his face. "Really?"

"The avalanche diverted the flow just enough," Kaito nodded as he spoke up. Recognizing that the detective would want more details, he continued. "The main bridge and a couple buildings along the bank were destroyed, but anyone nearby should have gotten enough warning to clear out from the sound of the water approaching." Since he, the dam worker, wouldn't know about Hakuba or any evacuation attempt, he kept quiet about that. In any case, Tantei-kun looked satisfied enough with the information he'd gotten as he sighed and let himself relax.

"You should worry more about yourself, you brat," Kogoro grumbled.

"Exactly!" Ran cried, briefly tightening her hold before turning him around and looking the teen-turned-boy in the eyes. "What were you thinking, Conan-kun! That was so _dangerous_!"

"S-sorry, Ran-neechan… I saw the water's path and…when I thought of everyone there…I just…" Conan said in a near whimper, employing puppy-dog eyes as he looked up at the girl. Kaito, picturing the look on the full grown Meitantei, clamped his poker face into place to stop himself from laughing. The look worked, though, as Ran stared at him sternly for a few moments longer before melting and hugging the detective to her again.

"It's alright, Conan-kun, just…never do something like that again, okay?"

"O-okay…" Conan muttered, his face bright red – something Kaito suspected had nothing to do with the cold and everything to do with how close the girl was holding him to her chest. Again, Kaito kept his poker face firmly in place.

"How'd you even come up with a crazy idea like that, anyway?" Mouri asked shaking his head. "Wait, let me guess. TV?"

"A movie!" Conan chirped happily though Kaito's experienced eyes noticed a bit of anxiousness in the young face (it made him wonder just how many times the "TV" excuse had been used to explain away Tantei-kun's large database of knowledge). Conan used the question as a pretext to pull himself away, at least slightly, from his would-be-girlfriend's bosom. "The bad guy put a whole lot of people in danger, but in the end the hero defeated him! It was really cool!"

 _'Nice,_ ' Kaito hid a grin, _'that plot could describe any one of thousands of movies_.'

"Oh!" Genta cried happily, "I think I've seen that one! The explosions were awesome!"

Kaito allowed his mirth to escape as a smile as he knelt down next to Conan. "Regardless of where he got the idea…" he ruffled boy's hair, earning him a glare. He grinned, "you're pretty amazing, aren't you, boya?"

"Not really. I just…!?" As the exact phrasing Kaito had used registered, Conan's head, which had been in the process of turning away in (feigned) bashfulness, whirled back around so quickly that Kaito was afraid he'd give himself whiplash. Kaito allowed a Kid grin to slip past his mask, silently confirming the detective's suspicions.

"Conan-kun?" Ran's concerned voice suddenly reminded Conan where he was, but he was saved from having to answer by the sound of approaching sirens.

 _'Of course they show up now, when everything's_ over _…'_ Kaito grumbled as a police cruiser rounded a bend in the road and into view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That concludes chapter 3! 
> 
> Please let me know you thought! I'm especially curious what you thought about my formatting choices for the heard-over-the-bug dialogue. I know it might be a bit jarring to look at, but since this chapter is written in Kaito's point of view and the sounds coming from the receiver would be much closer to his ear than any other sounds, I thought that that would be an appropriate stylistic choice...but if people don't like it I might have to rethink using it in the future.
> 
> Thanks for reading! See you in chapter 4!


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

 

After hearing a brief summary of the events that transpired on the dam, the officer decided to escort Yamao-san across the avalanche zone to his cruiser on foot. It would take several hours before a path large enough for vehicles could be cleared, and between the man's injuries and the seriousness of his crimes, the officer wasn't willing to risk waiting that long.

As the officer walked off, accompanied by Kogoro, Mizuki-san, and Mutou-san and led by a determined Shounen-tantei-dan, Conan – who had finally managed to squirm out of Ran's grasp during the review of the case – turned to his pseudo big sister. The instant Kaito saw his face, he knew the detective was up to something; he was looking up at Ran with wide, teary eyes (caused, Kaito had no doubt, by the detective forcing his eyes to remain open in the cold wind).

"Ran-neechan…" the boy spoke quietly, with a definite tremble in his voice.

"Conan-kun!" Ran was at his side in an instant, "what's wrong?"

"That guy…what if he gets away from the officer…?"

"Don't worry, Conan-kun," Ran soothed. "Even if that happens, Dad'll be there to stop him."

A slight clenching in Conan's jawline told Kaito that this wasn't the response the detective wanted to hear. "But…! In this snow, won't uncle's Judo be hard to use? And I'm worried about Ayumi and the others…" Kaito could see Ran was wavering, and so could Conan. He went in for the kill. "That guy…he hit me with a stun gun…and he…he tried to shoot me!"

_'That did it,_ ' Kaito thought as he saw the girl's hands clench.

"He did, did he?" Ran looked off in the direction the others had gone, her eyes hard, "Well, don't worry, Conan-kun. I'll go too and make _sure_ nothing happens. Ok?"

"Really?" Conan asked happily, evident relief washing over his face.

"Yeah…" Ran nodded, but she looked around hesitantly. It was obvious to Kaito that she wasn't comfortable with the idea of leaving Conan alone at the moment. But with Agasa, Ai, Sonoko and the other dam workers having retreated into the cars for warmth, the only person around was Kaito. "Um…excuse me?"

"Yes?" Kaito looked over with raised eyebrows, pretending he hadn't been listening in on their conversation and had merely been staring out over the view as it appeared.

"I want to go with the others, but I don't want to leave Conan-kun alone," she gestured to him. "Unfortunately, after what happened, he wants to stay out in the fresh air…" ( _'Ah,'_ Kaito realized, _'so_ that's _how he managed to stay outside_.') "Do you think you could keep an eye on him while I'm gone?"

"Sure, no problem," Kaito smiled, "it's the least I can do after all he's done for my village."

"Thank you so much!" Ran bowed at him, then turned and grasped Conan by the shoulders. "I'll be back soon, okay?" At Conan's nod, she turned and walked off, a scary look appearing in her eyes as she went.

_'That Yamao guy better behave himself – for his own sake,'_ Kaito thought half-amused as he took in her determined steps and clenched fists. He waited until she was out of earshot before turning to Tantei-kun.

"Impressive," he said in his own voice, "a bit melodramatic, but effective nonethele–"

"What are you doing here, Kid?" Conan interrupted irritably then paused, blinked, and turned a deadpan look at him. "And you've _hardly_ the right criticize about _that_!"

"Ah, but being melodramatic is _in character_ for Kid, is it not?" Kaito winked cheekily, before turning serious. "And did you really expect me to stay on the sidelines when I learned what was going on?"

Conan stared silently at him for several long seconds before letting out a sigh, "No. I suppose not." Kaito nodded, but before he could say anything Conan smiled at him somewhat sheepishly. "But if you were hoping to get your listening device back, I'm afraid I lost it in the avalanche."

"You knew about that?" Kaito blinked. Honestly, he'd completely forgotten about the device. In fact, he noticed now that he'd lost the receiver at some point as well. ' _Careless_ ,' Kaito scolded himself. If that happened at a heist he'd be in serious trouble since the receiver would have his DNA on it.

"Since the beginning," Conan nodded. "I'm not mad, though."

"Huh?" Kaito blinked again, suddenly feeling lost. ' _Shouldn't it be_ me _who's angry? Not that I am…'_ It wasn't as if Kaito had expected to get the bug back anyway, especially considering the person he'd attached it to.

"Considering your position," Conan continued, appearing not to notice Kaito's confusion, "I can't blame you for wanting to make sure I didn't say anything." He shrugged. "Besides, since the culprit this time had already nearly killed a train full of people, I thought it couldn't hurt for someone to have an extra ear out in case something went wrong. Though you joining in like you did kind of defeated the purpose…"

"No," Kaito broke in automatically, still trying to absorb what the detective had said, "I made arrangements before I left. Now, back up a second. Is that really why you think I bugged you?"

"Huh?" Conan looked at him. "That's why you've done it before at heists, right? What other reason would there be?"

Kaito stared at the honestly confused look on the detectives face. ' _He's serious! This guy…!'_

"'What other reason'?" Kaito half-growled, rumpling his own hair in frustration. "How about 'I was worried about you'?" He glanced over and saw a look of surprise appear on the detective's face. He sighed, "It was pretty obvious just by looking at you that this was bigger than your usual case. You were tense and distracted." Kaito shrugged (he chose not to mention his 'bad feeling' since a rational detective like Tantei-kun would likely just scoff at such a thing). "Seeing you like that, I got a little worried and decided it wouldn't hurt to keep 'an extra ear out,' as you put it."

"T-that's…"

"Besides, I know how reckless you can be." Kaito grinned, apparently knocking Conan from his shocked speechlessness.

"Says the guy who makes a habit of jumping off skyscrapers…!" 

"Uh-uh," Kaito held a finger up, cutting Conan off. "Don't even go there, Tantei-kun. You and I both know that my jumps aren't _nearly_ as dangerous as I make them look. Not only do I have my hang glider – which I maintain myself – I always make sure to have at least one backup plan to fall back on in case something _does_ go wrong." He turned a look on the would-be child. "That being said, where was _your_ backup plan, Tantei-kun? In case something happened - like, for example, _you getting caught up in the avalanche you created_?"

Conan opened his mouth only to close it again before turning to glance out over the view with a petulant look on his face (looking, much to Kaito's amusement, very much like the child he appeared to be). "It worked out didn't it?" Conan muttered. Kaito realized he was conceding the point, but before he could respond, he was faced with cerulean eyes again. "In any case, you of all people should know I can take care of myself, Kid."

"Wrong," Kaito shook his head. "It's exactly because it _is_ me that I know how reckless you can be in the midst of a chase."

And Kaito knew that that was when the detective wasn't even truly serious. Not that Tantei-kun didn't give it his all when he faced off against Katiou Kid – it was just that the guy reached a completely different level of intensity and recklessness when lives were at stake, especially if those lives included people he knew and cared about. Kaito had realized a long time ago that Edogawa Conan, AKA Kudo Shinichi, was _not_ someone you wanted to truly piss off. As Kid, he'd been fine with and even enjoyed taunting, annoying, and irritating the detective, but he'd always been mindful to never cross the line. He'd toed it a couple times (and earned a few bruises via soccer ball for his trouble), but never crossed it.

"So what are you saying?" Conan demanded angrily as he looked up at him. "I should have just let things run their course? Let the village be destroyed, just because the only possible way to save it might be dangerous?"

"Of course not," Kaito frowned. Apparently, he'd unintentionally struck a nerve in the detective (although he sensed that it went beyond that day's incident). "Don't forget, Tantei-kun, I'm not here in this village alone. My whole class is here and they might have died if you hadn't done what you did."

"So what are you saying?" Conan repeated, this time without the heat of anger.

"I'm saying you shouldn't try to do everything _alone_ , Tantei-kun. Nobody can do that." Kaito grinned. "Even the greatest magicians in the world need their assistants. Someone they can rely on to come to their aid or improvise if something doesn't go as planned." At Conan's sardonic look he rolled his eyes and added, "detectives are no different! Even Holmes had Watson, didn't he?" _'There, that struck a chord_ ,' Kaito thought triumphantly as he saw Conan's eyes widen slightly.

"It's almost blasphemous, hearing those names coming from _you_ ," the miniaturized teen muttered, looking away.

"Yeah, well, drastic times and drastic measures, right?" Kaito shrugged while he continued to watch Conan.

"Drastic?" Conan turned back to him with a doubtfully raised eyebrow. "Are you trying to be melodramatic again, Kid?"

"No," Kaito answered seriously, surprising Conan (who no doubt had been expecting one of his usual quips at the melodramatic line). "Do you have any idea what it was like? Just listening to what was happening up there?" Kaito looked in the direction of the dam. "I don't like feeling powerless, Tantei-kun. Not when it involves people getting hurt – _especially_ people I _know_." He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more than it was. _'That's one of the reasons I became Kid after all. Because Kuroba Kaito was powerless to find Dad's murderers_.'

"Never thought I'd hear _Kaitou Kid_ call himself powerless…" Conan snorted, startling Kaito from his thoughts.

Kaito turned to glare at the apparent brush off, but stopped when he saw the detective looking at his own hands with a derisive smile on his face. As he watched, Conan clenched the hands into fists and turned to Kaito.

"Sorry," Conan smiled softly, "And thanks. For worrying, I mean. It's not exactly something I'm used to."

"You're welcome, Tant-" he stopped and shook his head, "I mean, you're welcome, Kudo."

* * *

 

Once the other group returned, everyone traveled back to the police station in the village where they were met by a pair of police detectives. The officer who'd met them on the mountain gave the detectives a briefing of what had happened and what he'd learned.

"I had heard trouble followed you…" a slow-talking detective Watanabe said to Mouri, "but I never thought it was to this degree…"

Kogoro scowled while Conan sweatdropped. Kaito hid a grin.

"In any case," the man's partner, detective Sasamoto, broke in before anyone could respond. "We'll need to get everyone's statements about the case as soon as possible."

"Can't that wait? We're all tired from what's happened," Ran asked while several others in the group nodded in agreement.

"I'm afraid…we have to insist on it being today..." Watanabe shook his head. "While your memories are still fresh."

_'Bet they're getting pressure from their superiors,'_ Kaito thought to himself. _'It's such a big case, and now with the connection to the Touto Line bombing...They'll want to get things settled quickly.'_

"At least let us rest for a couple of hours then! Especially Conan-kun! Ran pled. But when the officers began to shake their heads again she became irritated and stepped forward, right next to a wooden table. "Conan-kun's actions saved this village didn't they!? The _least_ you could do is let him rest for the day and not force him to relive his ordeal so soon!" She slammed her fist down on the table, splitting it down the center.

The detectives stared as the crippled furniture collapsed with a groan to the floor, glanced at one another, then back to Ran. With shock evident in their voices, they agreed to postpone Conan's interview until the next day but insisted (quite bravely, in Kaito's opinion, after the karate champion's demonstration) that the others remain. When Ran argued that Conan wouldn't get any rest in the police station, they offered to have an officer drop the boy off at the lodge the group was staying at.

Kaito, seeing an opportunity, stepped forward at that point. "Why don't I take him? My statement wouldn't be any different from my co-worker's anyway," he shrugged. "Plus, my house is close to their lodge and I'm worried about my wife and daughter." Kaito had seen a picture of the two in the man's wallet, along with his address and other vital information he was always sure to look up for any disguise. "This way, I can check up on them and you'll have a little less paperwork."

The two detectives glanced at one another then turned to Ran, "would that be acceptable to you, miss?"

As Ran reluctantly agreed (she clearly would have preferred to stay with Conan), Kaito hid a grin. This way, he could avoid going on record while undercover, which he knew could cause issues later on.

A few minutes later, the two were making their way down the steps of the station.

"I can't believe they agreed to that," Conan shook his head.

"Well, Mouri-chan's… _persuasion_ is hard to refuse," he grinned as Conan snorted. "And as for me, I've learned that 'less paperwork' are magic words to any police officer."

"Oh? I'll have to remember that," Conan laughed when Kaito threw him a disbelieving look. "What? Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep 'Kudo Shinichi's' involvement in the cases he helps out in off the record?"

"How criminal," Kaito smirked. "Maybe there's hope for you yet, Kudo."

"Hope for what?" Conan quipped then sent a warning look at Kaito, glancing pointedly around them. "And don't call me that. I have enough trouble with Hattori."

"Who do you think you're _talking_ to?" Kaito threw a scandalized look at the shrunken teen. "As _if_ I'd make such an amateurish mistake!" He grinned at the unamused look on Conan's face. "But fine, _Conan_. It's not like I can't appreciate caution – boring as it tends to make things."

"And my life is just _so_ dull as it is," Conan rolled his eyes.

"Point," Kaito laughed. "So, what now? You gonna go back and rest at the lodge like you said you would?"

Conan nodded, "I think I've caused Ran enough worry for one day. And you?"

"Get back to my class," Kaito shrugged. "After what's happened, I'm sure the teacher's freaking out. First though, I need to go wake this guy up." He indicated his disguise.

"Oh, yeah," Conan looked up at him, "what are you going to do about him anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"In a small village like this one, an incident like this will be talked about for years, with everyone recalling what they saw and where they were at the time." He glanced at Kaito. "But what'll happen when 'you,' someone supposedly near the middle of the action, can't remember any of it? You may have managed to avoid going on record as him, but his supposed involvement is sure to get around."

Kaito just stared at the detective, his mind suddenly grinding to a halt as his words sunk in.

' _Uh-oh.'_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's chapter 4! 
> 
> Believe it or not, when I originally wrote this story, the plan for Kaito really was for him to stay on the sidelines until after the avalanche, but as you've seen he clearly didn't cooperate, lol. Chapters 2-4 were also originally posted as a single chapter but it was SO much longer than all the other chapters that I decided to break it up this time, but I wanted to post them close together - thus the triple update this week. Hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> See you in chapter 5!


	5. Chapter 5

  


As it turned out, some quick thinking, even faster talking, and a few autographs were all Kaito needed to get out of his predicament. Well, that and a _lot_ of love from his favorite Lady.

"To think that that guy's daughter was a huge Kaitou Kid fan…" Conan muttered beside him, shaking his head in disgusted wonder. The two were making their way down a snow packed road heading towards Conan’s lodge. Here and there they passed people packed in clusters, all of them talking about the near disaster. "That kind of luck should be illegal."

"Even if it were, it’s not like that would make much of a difference to _me_ ," Kaito laughed at the dirty look that earned him. He had ditched the disguise after leaving the dam worker's house (it had been a great way to convince the man of who he was) and was back to being himself again.

"Think he'll be able to pull it off, though?" Conan asked after several moments, referring to Kaito’s request to the man that he continue the pretense Kaito had started and act as though he really had been involved and not knocked out in building near the parking lot. “You didn't really give the man too many details about what happened – just the basic facts."

"And that sort of thinking is what makes you a critic, Tantei-kun," Kaito tsked with a grin. "More details would just make it difficult for the man to keep everything straight. Besides, with these kinds of stories, people tend to exaggerate anyway – the story grows and evolves the more it’s told.

"Ah, like how the fish that got away gets bigger with every telling,” Conan nodded, catching on quickly, while Kaito hid a wince a the mention of scaly menaces. “So since he was likely to exaggerate them anyway, you let him create the details."

"Yep," Kaito grinned. "And it's also got the added benefit of the fact that people tend to remember things they create better than things they're told."

"I see," Conan shook his head, a grudging smile on his face, before another thought apparently occurred to him. "But do you think he'll be able to keep the front up? That's a pretty big secret to keep, especially indefinitely."

"Dunno," Kaito shrugged, earning him a confused look from the detective. "But this is a small town, where stories are unlikely spread and unlikely to be taken seriously even if they do. So I really don't care if the guy messes up and the people realize Kaitou Kid was here, just so long as it doesn't happen until _after_ everyone, especially _Hakuba_ , has left."

After all, something like Kaitou Kid showing up in a remote village at the same time Kuroba Kaito's class was visiting, while not conclusive proof of Kaito being Kid, would undoubtedly cause the blonde detective to become more annoying than ever. And Kaito did _not_ need the guy stalking him any more than he already did.

"Hakuba?" Conan blinked. "As in Hakuba Saguru? I know he chases Kid on a regular basis, but you didn't have a heist here right? Why would he be here?"

"Ah…no, you see – "

"Kaito!"

"Aoko? Whoa!" Kaito spun towards the familiar voice and barely had time to brace himself as a head of bushy brown hair charged into his chest.

"Baka! Where have you been!? Aoko was so worried!" She pounded on his chest as tears gathered in her eyes.

"Ah…Aoko…don't cry…" Kaito begged. He did a quick mental calculation and realized with a start that it had to have been nearly three hours since he'd run off. ' _No wonder she's freaked…'_

"I was starting to think you'd…!"

"I'm sorry, Aoko," Kaito gave her a light squeeze before pulling her away to look into her eyes. "Things just happened, one after another. I really didn't mean to make you worry.” He held her eyes for a few more moments before grabbing a rose from his stash and poofing it into existence with a reassuring smile.  “So please don't cry, okay?"

"Kaito…" Aoko let out a small smile as she took the flower and looked at it, then reached up to wipe her eyes. "Alright. Just…promise you won't do it again, okay?"

"Well, I'm _kinda_ hoping this is the last collapsing dam we come across," Kaito grinned, pleased when he got a small chuckle out of the girl.

"We were lucky that that avalanche happened," Aoko sighed as she spun the rose slightly in her hand, her eyes wondering in the direction of where the snow and water had collided. Kaito had seen the impact zone himself as the group made their way back into the village and it had been a terrifying sight to behold. If the avalanche had been just a few seconds later…

"I don't believe 'luck' had anything to do with it, Aoko-kun," a familiar, accented voice commented from behind Aoko, snapping Kaito from his recollections.

_'Speak of the devil and he shall appear…_ ' Kaito grumbled, glancing over to see Hakuba approaching. He had a confident smile on his face as he stared at Kaito.

"Hakuba-kun!" Aoko smiled as she saw him, and then frowned in confusion, "what do you mean?"

"While that site had been shut down due to several avalanches in the area, the chances of one occurring in just that area at that particular moment are astronomical. Far more likely, it was triggered by someone…" His eyes narrowed suspiciously at Kaito.

"Don't look at me," Kaito grinned, glad for the chance to prove Hakuba 100% wrong in his suspicions of him for once. "The one who triggered it is over there!" He turned to where he'd seen Conan retreat when Aoko had shown up, probably to provide some privacy.

"Wha-?" Aoko and Hakuba both turned to look where he'd indicated as Conan stepped forward, clearly realizing they were talking about him.

"Oh! Who are you, boya?" Aoko smiled as she squatted down to get a better look at Conan. "You look kinda familiar…"

"This is Edogawa Conan," Hakuba spoke before Conan could answer. "He's a temporary ward with Mouri Kogoro and his daughter, and has become the 'sleeping detective's' unofficial assistant. He's quite well known among the police force, especially Beika's Division One. He’s also the de-facto leader of a group of four other children who call themselves the Shounen-tantei-dan; the group has made the news several times for being involved in cases. However, you mostly likely recognize him from his encounters with Kaitou Kid. He has become known in the media as 'the Kid Killer' for his success in foiling the thief's plans." Hakuba glanced at Kaito at this point, forcing the part-time thief to slam his poker face into place. Internally, he snickered at the now slightly-creeped-out look Conan was giving Hakuba. "He was most recently mentioned in connection to the Touto Line incident."

"The boy who stopped the cars?" Aoko looked between the two. "This is him?"

"Correct," Hakuba nodded, "although, as I said, you most likely recognize him from the articles about him regarding Kid."

"No…" Aoko shook her head. "Well, I _do_ remember seeing him in those, but that wasn't what – Oh! I know!" she suddenly lit up and turned to Kaito. "He looks just like you when you were his age!"

' _Technically, he_ is _my age._ ' Kaito deadpanned. "What are you talking about, Ahoko?"

"Shut up Bakaito, just look!" Without warning she reached out and snatched off Conan's oversized glasses and tossed them at Kaito, who caught them reflexively. The boy then let out an indignant squawk as she mussed up his hair and picked him up to present him to Kaito. "See? Doesn't he look just like you?

"Aoko…" Kaito struggled to stop himself from laughing at the disgruntled look on Conan's face.

"Although, even messed up his hair doesn't even come _close_ to _your_ bird's nest," Aoko ignored him as she turned Conan back around to look at him. "Still…" she stared at him for a moment, before suddenly squashing the boy to her chest in a tight hug, "he's _soooo cute!_ "

"Ahoko!" Kaito yelled, no longer amused, "put him down already!"

Aoko sent him an annoyed look, but reluctantly did as he'd ordered. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Conan teleported out of her arms' reach, putting Kaito between him and the girl.

Kaito noticed with a touch of irritation that there was a definite flush on the faux child's face.

"He's also a lot more reserved than you were!" Aoko cooed at the supposed display of shyness. "Sorry, boya! I didn't mean to scare you."

Conan just shook his head in response to her, but Kaito could hear him muttering to himself (something about girls and small, cute things). Kaito shot him a raised eyebrow as he returned the glasses, but Conan just shook his head again as he put them on, clearly indicating he didn't want to talk about it.

Suddenly, a cleared throat disturbed the scene and all three turned to Hakuba.

"Sorry to interrupt, but did you say it was Edogawa-kun who triggered the avalanche?"

"What? But he's just a little boy!" Aoko instantly protested.

"It's true though," Kaito grinned down at Conan. "Right?"

"U-un," Conan nodded with a hesitant glance towards Hakuba, "I just got lucky though…"

"Somehow I doubt that," Kaito heard Hakuba mutter to himself. He looked over at him in surprise.

' _Ah…that's right. He's seen some of Tantei-kun's abilities first hand, hasn't he?'_ Kaito realized, remembering the sunset mansion case. Recognizing the thoughtful look on Hakuba’s face, Kaito decided to step forward to cut off the line of thought before it could begin.

“Unfortunately you’re going to have to wait for the official report on that one. I’ve made a promise to get this kid home so he can rest – _without_ anyone hassling him about what’s happened.”

He glanced at Kudo just in time to see a flash of relief cross his face for a brief moment. The expression made Kaito blink and look closer at the shrunken teen; examining him carefully, Kaito could pick out a slight tremor in the young frame and a tightness around his eyes.

Kaito frowned internally as he realized that Ran had been right in insisting that Conan’s statement wait until tomorrow. He was doing well in hiding it, but Kudo was exhausted. ‘ _Well, of_ course _he is!’_ Kaito berated himself. ‘ _He’s just had a near-death experience! Even an adult would be exhausted!'_ And as much as his attitude made it easy to forget, Kudo Shinichi _was_ currently in the body of a child. He felt a stab of annoyance at the local detectives for not realizing this themselves, and made a promise to himself that he really would make sure Conan got back to his lodge without any further incident.

“Of course we won’t both hassle him about it, right Hakuba-kun?” Aoko smiled at the two of them, bringing Kaito back to the conversation at hand. He glanced at Hakuba to see his mouth pinch slightly in clear reluctance to let such an interesting clue get away, but in the face of Aoko’s clear, determined eyes all he could do was sigh and let the subject drop. Instead, he turned to Kaito.  

"How did you two come to be together anyway?"  

"I happened to run into him and a dam worker a little while ago.” Kaito told him, having already prepared the story. “The man had promised to take the kid to his lodge on the way to his house but ran into his family sooner than expected. He saw me and asked if I could take him instead. I agreed," he finished with a shrug. "Of course, I got distracted from it when _someone_ nearly tackled me in the middle of the street, all freaked out."

"Shut up! You'd been gone so long, everyone was - " she froze. "Oh no! I need to tell sensei we found you!" She turned around and began to run off. "You said you would, so make sure you drop little Conan-kun off at his lodge, but then come right back, okay?"

"Got it!" Kaito saluted after her, grinning at Conan's mutterings beside him ("the 'little' was unnecessary"). “Well, I suppose that means I should get you back?" He turned to Conan.

"Before that, a minute Edogawa-kun?"

' _Of course. Here we go…'_ Kaito wanted to roll his eyes, already predicting what the blonde detective was going to say as he moved and knelt down next to Conan.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering…" he dropped his voice, but Kaito's trained ears could still hear him clearly. “What is your impression of Kuroba-kun?"

"Huh?" Conan blinked, glancing at Kaito, "Why?"

"Because he is my lead suspect for the true identity of Kaitou Kid," Hakuba smirked confidently.

' _I knew it…_ ' Kaito sighed as Conan looked up at Hakuba in surprise.

"From a strand of hair I collected, I determined Kaitou Kid was of Japanese descent, had a group B blood type and was between the ages of 15 and 17. So I took all the data I had on him and applied it to a high school database. Kuroba-kun's name was in the final list."

' _How will you respond, Kudo?_ ' Kaito wondered curiously. He knew the shrunken detective wouldn't betray him, but he _was_ curious to see how he would answer Hakuba, who clearly knew Conan wasn't your normal little kid. He had a feeling things might get interesting.

He wasn't mistaken.

"Was it the only name?" Conan asked, glancing down at the ground, the light catching and illuminating his lenses, hiding his eyes in the process.

"What?" Hakuba looked surprised. Clearly this wasn't the response he'd expected. "Well, no, but…"

"Then it can't be evidence." Conan said seriously. "' **It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.** '"

' _English?'_ Kaito started at the fluently pronounced foreign language. ' _A quote from the sound of the intonation…And considering who's quoting, probably from Sherlock Holmes…_ ' he thought as he translated what he'd heard in his mind. He had to bite back a bark of laughter when he realized what it meant. ' _I do believe Hakuba is being criticized using his own beloved Holmes!'_ The fact that it was also being done by an apparent first grader made the scene all the more delightful in Kaito's opinion.

"That's…!" Hakuba stepped back, looking as though he'd been slapped.

"Tell me…" Conan began, switching back to Japanese, "what do you take that quote to mean, Hakuba?" He looked up at the blonde, a hard look in his eyes. "Because _I've_ always taken it to mean that you can't come to a conclusion until you have all the facts. That you can't _accuse_ people of a crime until you have hard _irrefutable_ evidence that they really did it."

"Yes, but-!" Hakuba clearly wanted to argue, but Conan wouldn't let him.

"Have you forgotten the events that led to the Detective Koshien?"

' _Detective Koshien?'_ Kaito glanced between the two, his previous delight in the situation greatly reduced by the suddenly serious atmosphere. He'd never heard of such a thing, but whatever it was, the mention of it completely shut Hakuba down.

"As detectives, we can't afford to be wrong, Hakuba," Conan continued, again tilting his head so his glasses caught the light. "We can't make allegations lightly. You've seen the consequences that weakly supported accusations can bring about." He turned his back on the blonde and began walking away. "I suggest you try to remember that."

* * *

 

"While I applaud your skill at rendering Hakuba completely speechless – not an easy feat, I assure you – somehow, I don't think that was your main intention there." Kaito glanced down as he caught up and walked beside Conan.

Conan glanced up at him briefly with a small smile that didn't reach his eyes, but otherwise made no immediate response to Kaito's words or presence. The magician didn't push though. Considering who was involved, it seemed pretty clear that the "Detective Koshien" referred to some sort of a case, but it was also obvious that it had had quite an impact on the shrunken teen. He had a glassy, faraway look in his eyes as, Kaito assumed, he recalled the incident.

Finally, Conan came to a stop as he seemed to return to himself. "It happened a while back…"

As Conan went over the case, Kaito quickly realized why it had had such a strong effect on the sleuth. One detective killing another in order to avenge a friend who’d been driven to suicide due to being under suspicion for a murder that wasn’t, all because the murdered detective had made a flawed deduction that pointed the police in the wrong direction.

It was a difficult and painful story to listen to; Kaito almost wished he hadn't heard it after all. But at the same time, it was very illuminating for him in regards to Kudo. As adept as he was at reading other people, the way the detective told the story – the vocal nuances and facial expressions at various parts – revealed a great deal to Kaito about the type of person Kudo Shinichi was. And the more he learned about the detective, the more he felt that Kudo was someone who could understand Kaito and the reasons behind the decisions he'd made.

By the time Conan fell silent again, Kaito had found his answer to the question that had plagued him the entire night before.

Now that the detective knew who he was, Kaito wanted to try and be friends.

_'And for that to happen, we need to be involved in one another's lives,'_ Kaito thought. Luckily, Conan had already met Aoko (and Hakuba). _'I guess that means it's my turn to meet Kudo's friends.'_

Kaito grinned.  
  
---  
  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is chapter 5! I hope you liked it! Comments are always appreciated.
> 
> See you in chapter 6!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping it's self-evident, but just in case: this chapter is back in Conan's POV. 
> 
> Happy reading! ^_~

* * *

 

The two teens were silent as they again made their way towards the lodge Conan was staying in with Mouri and the others. Conan occasionally glanced at Kuroba, who'd grown silent since he'd finished telling him about the Detective Koshien case, apparently lost in his own thoughts.

_'I've never seen him like this…_ ' It was a thought he'd had several other times that day. As he continued to look at the other, he noticed that something had changed in the air around him. He wouldn't say the thief was calm exactly – the words "calm" and "Kaitou Kid" didn't coexist well in Conan's mind – but he seemed more…relaxed. ' _Yeah, that's it. He's not as tense as before.'_ Not that Conan had actually _noticed_ any tension in Kuroba. It was only now that it was gone that Conan realized it had been there at all.

It was simple to guess that the reason behind the magician/thief's anxiousness was their meeting the night before. Conan could easily imagine what the thief was going through. The realization that the situation has changed irreversibly, the indecision over what to do next – Conan had experienced it all himself on more than one occasion after all. So, if that's what he was tense about before and he wasn't now…

"You've decided," Conan realized aloud.

"Huh?" Kuroba glanced at him, having been disrupted from whatever he'd been thinking about.

"What you're going to do," Conan clarified. "About me."

"Oh…" Kuroba blinked, then grinned slightly. "As expected of you, Meitantei."

"So?" Conan prompted after several seconds of silence.

"What?" Kuroba turned an innocently surprised look at him. "You don't actually think I'd just _tell_ you, do you?"

"That's…" Conan blinked.

His expression clearly pleased the part-time thief, because his grin grew wider.

"Tsk tsk tsk," He waggled his finger at him. "Come now, Tantei-kun. Explaining things is _your_ job. My job is making things as convoluted and confusing as possible in order to make the reveal that much more magical!"

"Magical my ass," Conan quipped sarcastically, though he knew the effect was being somewhat dulled due the smile he felt pulling at the corners of his mouth. "You just like giving anyone on the side of the law a headache."

"Well, that too." The magician laughed easily. He was silent for a few moments before something ahead of them caught his attention.

Conan followed the other’s line of sight and saw the tourist center he'd visited two days ago. A new sign had been set outside, inviting visitors to come in and warm up with free hot chocolate.

"Whaddya say we take them up on their hospitality?" Kuroba grinned at him, indicating the sign. "It'll be a while yet before Ran-san or the others finish anyway. Plus, it’s freezing."

The other's words suddenly made Conan realize just how cold he was as well – his whole body was starting to shiver. He nodded at the other and the two made their way inside.

* * *

 

Conan silently made his way over to the refreshment table while Kuroba returned the greetings of the few employees behind the desk. As he listened to the magician expertly excuse himself from engaging in small talk, Conan filled a Styrofoam cup with the steaming brown liquid all the way to the rim and ignored the bowl of miniature marshmallows that sat beside the thermos. While he'd have preferred coffee, Conan couldn't deny the pleasant warmth the drink gave him as it radiated up through his cupped hands and down his throat as he took a sip. He took a seat on a bench located close to a heating vent and nursed the warm drink for a few moments before a rustling at his side announced that Kuroba had joined him. He did a double take as he caught sight of the other's cup.

"Have enough marshmallows there?" He remarked drily as he stared at no less than two solid layers of the stuff floating on top of Kuroba's hot chocolate (and which should, by all rights and appearances, be cascading over the edge of the cup).

The magician glanced at his drink before replying with a small sigh, "Not really…but I didn't want to be greedy."

Conan just stared at him, trying to decide whether or not the other was actually serious, then decided he didn't want to know and let the subject drop. A comfortable silence settled over the two as they sipped at their drinks (though how the magician was able to drink anything past the clog of sugar, Conan couldn't imagine).

"Oh," Kuroba suddenly sat up straight after several minutes of silence as something apparently occurred to him.

"What is it?" Conan asked, glancing at him, but the other didn't seem to hear him.

"…not just me either…. _nobody…_ " the magician mumbled lowly to himself, shaking his head.

"Oi…what are you muttering abo– " Conan broke off as the other suddenly turned to him with a serious expression.

"Thank you."

"What?" Conan looked at the other in startled confusion.

"If it weren't for you, a lot of people outside would be hurt – or worse – right now. My friends and classmates included." Kuroba gave a genuine smile – one without a hint of the usual smugness or sarcasm. "Since nobody else seems to have thought about it, I felt I should say it: Thank you."

"T-that's…I… _barou!"_ Conan sputtered and looked away, embarrassed. "Anybody'd have…and weren't you just scolding me for doing it less than an hour ago?"

"This and that are two different things, Tantei-kun!" Kuroba grinned then reached out to ruffle Conan's hair.

"Hey!" Conan squawked and swatted the hand away. Kuroba just laughed and stood up, tossing his now empty cup into a nearby trash can.

"Shall we get going?" The part-time thief grinned and made his way towards the door.

Conan grumbled slightly as he fixed his hair and finished the last of his own cocoa before following after the other.

* * *

 

The two made small talk as they traveled the rest of the way to Conan's lodge. As they rounded the final corner that brought the building into view, Conan slowed to a stop. Ran still wasn’t likely to be back for a while yet, but the last thing Conan needed after the screw up with that snowy souvenir list the night before was for someone to mention to Ran that they'd seen someone who looked like Kudo Shinichi in the area.

"Thanks for the escort, but I'll be fine from here," Conan said. ' _Not like I really needed it to begin with…_ ' he didn't say it aloud, but he could tell from the other's expression that he knew what Conan was thinking.

"Sorry," Kuroba grinned, "but I promised Aoko I'd take you back to the _lodge_. I'm not about to risk her wrath if she finds out I wasn't a proper babysitter."

" _Don't even go there_." Conan growled, eyebrow twitching. "Besides, if Ran saw y –"

" _Shinichi!"_ A very familiar and very angry voice rang out through the chilled air.

Conan felt the blood drain out of his face as several words someone his apparent age should never know somersaulted through his head. He turned quickly to see Ran making her way towards them, hands clenched tightly at her sides. Conan imagined he could very nearly see a cloud of anger rising behind her as the surrounding air steamed from her temper.

It took several moments longer than it should have for his brain to note that Ran's pain-promising glare wasn't aimed at him, and several more for it to remember that he was Conan at the moment as well as who he was currently standing next to. ' _Oh…Oh!'_

Conan quickly glanced up at Kuroba who was apparently coming to the same conclusion as Shinichi if his paling face and widening eyes were anything to go by.

If this had been any other situation, the look of near terror on the usually unflappable thief's face would have been amusing. As it was however, it just drove home how bad the situation was. And if that wasn't bad enough, now that his brain was no longer _completely_ in panic-mode, he noticed that Sonoko had appeared from the lodge and was swiftly making her way over as well. However, Shinichi's attention was quickly drawn back to his childhood friend as she finally began to speak in a voice that she was clearly struggling to keep quiet.

"Shinichi…! You _were_ here! I knew it. I _knew_ it! How _dare_ you…! Do you have _any_ idea how I've…? And then you…!"

' _Losing her ability to speak…that's a_ very _bad sign!'_ Shinichi thought frantically as both he and Kuroba backpedaled away from the furious karate champion. ' _Need to cut her off now!'_

"R-Ran-neechan!" He piped up only to freeze when Ran's glare landed on him.

"Be quiet, Conan-kun. This doesn't involve you," the icy anger in Ran's voice sent a shiver up Conan's spine that had nothing to do with the frigid temperatures.

"That's right, Gakincho," Sonoko agreed as she caught up to the group, slightly out of breath. "This is an argument between husband and wife! So! What do you have to say for yourself, you lousy husband?"

' _One: we're_ not _married, and two: if that's what you think, what are_ you _doing butting in!?'_ a part of Conan screamed as he watched the two converge on Kuroba, who was looking quite desperate by this point.

"P-please calm dow –" Kuroba tried, palms held up in a placating gesture. However, the attempt did nothing but further infuriate the girl.

"Calm down? Did you just ask me to _calm down!?"_ Ran broke in angrily. "Shinichi, you –"

" _THAT'S NOT SHINICHI-NIISAN!"_ Conan screamed out as loudly as he could, his words echoing in the winter air. Silence enveloped the group as two pairs of eyes turned to him (Kuroba kept his eyes on Ran, and Conan couldn't blame him).

"What the heck are you talking about, you stupid brat?" Sonoko snapped. But Conan ignored her in favor of watching Ran who was blinking at him repeatedly.

"Not…Conan-kun…what are you…?" Ran's eyes slid back to Kuroba and stared, confusion clear on her face as she studied the other.

Kuroba knew a chance when he saw it and smiled grandly at the two. "Sorry, I'm afraid I'm not this 'Shinichi' you pretty ladies seem so angry at." He side-stepped around the two, surreptitiously putting space between himself and the two women, as he bowed deeply. With a snap of his fingers he presented two yellow roses to them. "My name is Kuroba Kaito, magician extraordinaire. I'm here with my class from Ekoda High."

_'He gave his real name?'_ Conan looked at the other in surprise. He wasn't the only one.

"Eh? Kuroba…Kaito…?" Ran blinked dumbfounded. She took the rose without thought and stared between it and the other's face. "Then…you…you're not..." Suddenly her face went bright red and she bowed deeply. "Oh my gosh, I'm _so_ sorry! I mistook you for someone else! You must think I'm so rude!"

"No no, don't worry about it," Kuroba laughed it off easily. "Do we really look that similar?"

' _As if you don't know - you've taken advantage of the fact often enough!'_ Conan quipped silently in his head, giving the thief a deadpan look.

"Not similar, _identical!_ " Sonoko gaped. She reached into a pocket and pulled out her cellphone. Turning it on, she swiped her fingers across the screen a few times before she turned and presented it to Kuroba for inspection; this was done while simultaneously dodging around a protesting Ran ("No, Sonoko! Not _that_ picture!")

Conan, curious about Ran's reaction, scooted over to where he could see what was on the screen, only to flush and look away. It was a picture from the case that had occurred during the school play. He was dressed in his black knight costume with Ran dressed as a princess beside him. In and of itself, the photo was fine, but Sonoko had apparently taken it upon herself to use a photo editing app on it. Shinichi recalled that there had been several other people around them, but Sonoko had covered up everyone else in the photo with pink and red brush strokes, and then added a sea of sparkles, hearts, and XOXO's; finally, at the very top of the picture, directly over Ran and Shinichi's heads, were what were clearly wedding bells.

Kuroba slowly blinked once, twice, at the photo with a carefully blank face – behind which Conan just _knew_ that the other was cackling madly – before turning and replying to the phone's owner in a remarkably straight voice.

"I see what you mean. We _do_ look quite a bit alike, don't we?"

"Yes, but still…I should have realized…!" Ran said, finally snatching her completely unapologetic friend's phone away. "I _really_ am sorry, Kuroba-san. Oh! Um…my name is Mouri Ran, and this is my friend Suzuki Sonoko."

"You don't need to be so formal. It's nice to meet you." Kuroba smiled easily. "And don't worry about it so much, after seeing that picture I can see why you'd mistake us – especially from a distance."

Ran, clearly still embarrassed over her mistake, glanced around for something to distract herself. Her eyes landed on Conan and widened, obviously having forgotten about his presence. "That's right, Conan-kun! Where in the world were you!? I was worried sick when I got back and you weren't at the lodge!"

"Ah. That's…! Um…" Conan blinked, caught completely off-guard. "I – I didn't think you'd be back so soon!" As soon as the words left his mouth he knew they were the wrong thing to say.

Sure enough, Ran's expression darkened instantly. "That's not the point and you know it! You said you were going to go straight back to the lodge, Conan-kun! And why are you with Kuroba-kun anyway? You were supposed to be with that dam worker!"

"Ah, I can explain that one," Kuroba stepped in, much to Conan's relief. The teen proceeded to tell Ran the same story he'd told Aoko and Hakuba. "We then got a little delayed by some friends of mine, as well as by an offer of free hot chocolate. I thought Conan-kun looked a little chilled and from what I'd heard I thought you'd be delayed for quite a while."

Sonoko snickered. "If it had been up to those detectives, we would have been. But Ran _insisted_ that she be allowed to give her statement first, since the kid was waiting for her. And of course, as her best friend, I went too!"

Conan sweatdropped, wondering how many fist-sized holes had been added to the police station's walls.

"But you weren't directly involved in the case right? At least that's what I heard from Conan-kun," at Ran's affirmative nod, Kuroba continued, eyes slightly widening. "Wow, I'm impressed then. I've heard that the police always get the statements of those most directly involved with the crime first and work their way out." Kuroba gave Ran and innocent smile. "You must be very good at persuasion, Mouri-san."

Hearing that, a sudden snort of laughter burst out of Conan before he could stop it, but he quickly covered it up with several fake coughs. Ran reached down absently to pat him on the back, but Conan could tell from the mischievous look Kuroba sent him that he hadn't been fooled.

'" _Good at persuasion" - yeah, that's_ _one way to put it,'_ Conan couldn't help but smirk. Having gotten his mirth back under control, he tuned back in to what Ran was saying.

" – seem very familiar with police procedure, Kuroba-kun."

"Oh, that?" Kuroba shrugged, "Aoko, my childhood friend, her father is a police inspector. Maybe, you've heard of him – he's in the paper pretty often – Nakamori Ginzo?"

Trying to smother a shocked gasp at that revelation, Conan really _did_ start coughing this time.

' _Aoko? That girl from before? I guess I never did get her full name…but she's Nakamori's_ daughter _? And Kuroba's childhood friend? Wow. That's…gotta be interesting.'_

"Conan-kun, are you okay?" Ran finally turned her attention to him.

"I'm fine! Some cocoa I drank earlier went down the wrong tube, that's all," Conan quickly covered. Once Ran looked away again he turned back to shoot an incredulous look up at the other male in the group, only to notice that he was being bombarded by questions from Sonoko.

" – that loudmouthed inspector always trying to catch my Kid-sama!?"

' _I don't think_ you _have any right to call anyone a "loudmouth," Sonoko,'_ he thought wryly before another thought occurred to him. ' _Hold on…Hakuba was here too, and Kuroba said he was here with his class…don't tell me – they're classmates!?'_

This time, Conan wasn't able to cover up the laughter that bubbled out at his most recent deduction. Ran and Sonoko just turned to stare at him in confusion, but judging by the slightly chagrined, slightly annoyed look Kuroba shot at him from behind the girls, the part-time thief had probably guessed what he was thinking.

' _So, he's childhood friends,'_ and judging by what he'd seen in their interaction earlier – possibly more, ' _with the daughter of the inspector in charge of his case. And he's also classmates with both her_ and _Hakuba Saguru_ ," who Shinichi now knew suspected Kuroba Kaito of being Kid. ' _That's just…wow.'_

"Conan-kun?" Ran was giving him a very decidedly odd look.

"Maybe that avalanche rattled his brains…?" Sonoko muttered, and Ran's eyes widened in worry.

"No no!" Conan quickly assured, thinking fast before Sonoko's comment earned him a trip to the nearest CAT scan machine. "I, uh… hearing Nakamori's name just suddenly made me recall his face the last time he fell for one of Kid's traps! It was _so_ funny! Especially since I'd dodged that same trap really easily!" He called up the memory, and actually did get a couple extra chuckles at the image. The man had been absolutely livid.

"Oh," Ran sighed in relief then turned back to Kuroba. "In answer to your question before, yes, I've heard of him and I’ve even met him. We've attended a few heists; Conan’s actually gotten pretty well known for his ability to counter Kid."

"Yeah, I know. The "Kid Killer" right?" Kuroba grinned at him. Conan just rolled his eyes; he wasn't particularly fond of the nickname – or the media attention it had brought his shrunken persona.

"Right," Ran nodded. "It's funny. You two are actually kind of indirectly connected, aren't you?"

' _More than you think,'_ Conan smirked only to blink a moment later.

"More than you think," Kuroba grinned, echoing Conan’s thoughts aloud. "Actually, our families have known each other from years back."

_'Eh? Wait, what?'_ Conan glanced up sharply at the other, but Kuroba blithely ignored him.

"Really, Conan-kun?" Ran turned to him.

"Eh? Uh…yeah…" Conan blinked up at her and agreed on auto pilot. Then again, there wasn't much else he _could_ do. After all, saying that the other was lying would only complicate things, especially with the other being Kaitou Kid. And it _was_ technically true, but…

' _What's the heck is he_ up _to…?'_

"I'd actually heard about Conan-kun before, but I never realized he lived so close to me!" Kuroba bubbled on happily to Ran, oblivious to the increasing glare Conan was giving him. "Now that I know though, I'd love it if we could hang out! I've always wanted a little brother! Of course," Kuroba demurred, "that's only if it's alright with you, Mouri-san."

' _Oi oi…wait a second…this is…'_

Suddenly a conversation from a short while ago returned to him.

_"You don't actually think I'd just_ tell _you, do you_? _Tsk tsk tsk. Come now, Tantei-kun. Explaining things is your job. My job is making things as convoluted and confusing as possible in order to make the reveal that much more magical!"_

_"Magical my ass. You just like giving anyone on the side of the law a headache."_

_"Well, that too."_

And there was also that comment from the night before…

_"In the meantime, perhaps I'll see you around."_

At the time, Conan had agreed to it without thinking too deeply on what those words could mean. But now…

_'Don't tell me he's planning to…!'_ But the look the magician gave him as Ran turned towards Conan told him that that was _exactly_ what he troublesome thief was planning.

"I see! Well, if Conan-kun wants to, I don't see why not!" She smiled at him, clearly happy for him at finding a nice new "big brother."

"Great!" Kuroba's smile was so wide it looked painful. He knelt down to Conan and held out an empty hand. With a snap of his fingers, a slip of paper suddenly materialized there and was passed to Conan.

_'Hidden in his sleeve_ ,' Conan deduced automatically as his eyes traveled over the series of numbers listed on the paper. ' _It's a phone number; his phone number. I have Kaitou Kid's phone number…?'_

"My cell number. Make sure to contact me, okay Conan-kun?"

_'No, not Kid’s,'_ Conan realized as he looked up from the sheet to see other wink at him, a definite mischievous glint in his eyes, but also a definite gleam of sincerity. _'I have_ Kuroba Kaito's _phone number."_

"Ok."

**Chapter End**  
  
---  
  
 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's chapter 6! Hope you liked it! Comments are always welcome!
> 
> See you in chapter 7!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue in this chapter will be as follows:
> 
> "words" = spoken dialogue
> 
> _'words'_ = thoughts
> 
> **words** = text
> 
> Happy reading! ^_~

* * *

 

Conan managed to stave off his curiosity until the group was about half way back to Tokyo. But the detective's brain could only put up with listening to speculation on the most recent plot twist in the Kamen Yaiba series – the third time said subject had come up since the latest episode aired five days ago – before his brain started to go numb.

He glanced to the side to ensure Haibara was still buried in one of her fashion magazine. He pulled out his phone when he caught sight of a model posing with Fusae's latest creation, but then paused with his fingers hovering over the screen as he wondered what to put.

' _How do you greet the true identity of an internationally wanted thief with a penchant for pranks? Actually…that's a good point to consider.'_ After all, Conan wouldn't put it past Kid to give him someone else's number as a prank. ' _It makes as much sense as him giving me his real number does – more actually.'_

An idea occurred to him, and he typed in a message with a smirk. He quickly hit send before he could change his mind.

**What are you up to?**

Conan stared at the sent message on the screen as he waited, trying to decide how he'd react if it was a prank, but the reply came before he could make up his mind.

**A message that could be either generic or specific depending on the receiver. Nice, Tantei-kun.**

Conan held back a snort. ' _Figures he'd realize it_.' Before he could type a reply, a second message arrived.

**And to answer your question: nothing. Uncharacteristic of me I know, but I don't have an ulterior motive here.**

Conan stared at the words, half surprised to find he actually believed them. Once again, before he could reply, a new message arrived.

**C/S#?**

' _What the…_ ' Conan stared at the five apparently nonsensical characters for several long seconds, wondering if they formed some were some weird emoticon – the Shounen-tantei-dan had shown him some really bizarre ones in the past – before remembering who he was talking too. _' I'm spending too much time chatting with the kids,_ ' he thought sardonically as he switched mental tracks and began decoding the message. His brain instantly flipped through the various meanings of each symbol before coming to a conclusion. _'"Conan or Shinichi's number?" Well, that explains why he's being cryptic,_ ' he thought as he typed a reply.

A quick glance around showed that he’d yet to gain anyone’s attention, but he still decided to keep things vague. And with Haibara sitting right next to him (who had the knowledge to recognize the meaning) he switched to numbers. He might also admit to being curious as to how fast Kid would get it.

**1\. Just 24R usually. How did you know?**

The near instantaneous reply irked Conan more than he wanted to acknowledge, though, really, his reply had hardly been _that_ obscure – and Kid had already been thinking on the right mental track while Conan hadn’t been. _‘And now I’m just making excuses,_ ’ Conan scolded himself as he looked at the actual words that had arrived.

**R used both**

_'Oh! After the avalanche!'_ Conan had only heard his Shinichi phone buzz in the silence of the snow, but it only made sense that she'd called Conan's first.

He glanced at the phone in his hand as he remembered how she’d handed it back to him in the car on the way back to the village after they’d collected Yamao. It hadn’t occurred to him then what it meant for her to have it; now, he could imagine all too clearly the likely progression of events that lead to Ran calling Shinichi’s phone.  

Another text appeared, snapping him from his darkening thoughts.

**Speaking of. It might be advisable for that distant cousin of yours to wear protective clothing when he finally returns.**

Conan hid a wince. **Wouldn't help. Better to dodge.**

**Somehow I’m getting the impression that he’s had a lot of practice at that?**

Conan could just hear the snicker behind those words. He rolled his eyes but then smirked as an idea struck.

**Considering your classmates, I'd say the same thing could be said of you. Nice to know you're not always supernaturally lucky.**

The extended pause nearly made Conan snicker aloud as he imagined the other's face.

**Yeah yeah. Laugh it up.**

Kid had never liked having the tables turned on him; his daylight persona clearly didn't either.

Conan couldn't resist.

**HAHAHAHA**

**(╬ -_-)**

Conan waited several moments, but no other comment arrived. Feeling a slight sense of victory he typed another message.

**Did Hakuba transfer to your class intentionally?**

**Nope. It was only after he arrived that he came up with his little theory. It really was just bad luck.**

' _Maybe there’s balance to the world after all,_ ' Conan shook his head slightly. Then he blinked as a series of texts arrived one after the other.

**The guy's stubbornly persistent about it too.**

**He just REFUSES to admit he's WRONG! DESPITE the fact that I have alibies for SEVERAL of Kid's heists!**

**And that includes the time I was HANDCUFFED to the annoying prat himself for the ENTIRE heist!**

**What's a guy gotta do to prove his innocence!?**

**Brb**

Conan stared at the screen in bemusement for a minute while his brain switched tracks to process the suddenly hyperactive texts. Once he did, he found himself torn between amusement (' _you'd need to actually_ be _innocent to_ prove _it, Kid')_ and curiosity ( _'He spent an entire heist handcuffed to Hakuba? How'd he pull that one off?'_ ).

He had just finished making a mental note to himself to look into that heist when a new text came in.

**Sorry bout that. Subject of our conversation decided to make a nuisance of himself (again) and tried to spy on my typing. He's now regretting choosing the seat behind mine °˖** **✧◝** **(** **⁰** **▿** **⁰** **)** **◜✧** **˖°**

Conan sweatdropped as he stared at the cheerful looking set of characters at the end, wondering what horrible fate they portended for the British detective.

**I see**.

He left it at that. It seemed the safest route.

* * *

 

The two continued to chat (and banter) about random topics. As they did, Conan became aware of the fact that they were both keeping the conversation light. It was obvious that they were both well aware of how potentially tenuous this new "relationship" of theirs was and didn't want to bring up anything that might jeopardize it.

' _Relationship really is the only word that feels right,'_ Conan thought as sent his latest text. The two had been chatting for over an hour now. Kogoro was currently busy concentrating on a particularly congested stretch of road. The kids had grown quiet (which meant that they had either fallen asleep or were rereading the manga they'd brought with them), and from where he sat in the far back seat of the rental van, the quiet conversation of Ran and Sonoko couldn't be heard over the engine and the rushing wind passing outside the vehicle. The only thing Conan could hear was a low, steady hum, and the miniaturized detective found the sound putting him into a Zen sort of mood as he began to absentmindedly delve further into his previous thought.

' _We're not enemies any– wait, no. I don't think I'd have ever classified Kaitou Kid as an enemy. The Black Organization is an enemy. Kid was more of…an adversary. Yeah. At first he was an adversary. Then eventually it turned into a rivalry – maybe even a friendly one at times. But now…now that doesn't fit anymore either. It's not a rivalry.'_

He glanced down as another text came in – a challenge to Conan's prediction for how this season's J-League would progress. Conan quickly countered the magician's argument before providing more support for his own assessment.

' _Well…not_ just _a rivalry,_ ' he amended with a slight smirk as he hit send. ' _It feels stronger than an "acquaintanceship," but it's not "friendship" yet either.'_ It was still hard to even fathom that he could believably add the word "yet" to that sentence. ' _But the only word I can think that exists between those two is "colleague" and it's obvious why_ that _one doesn't work. So…"relationship" really is the best fit for now.'_ He nodded decisively to himself as a new text arrived.

**Fine, fine. I don't follow soccer all that closely anyway so I'll defer to your expertise on this one. Oh hey. How much of the festival did you get a chance to check out before all the action happened earlier? Did you get a chance to ride on the snowmobile track?**

Although Conan had gotten used to Kuroba's apparently random topic changes, he still rolled his eyes before he started typing. **I didn't but Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi did. And of course they ended up in trouble.**

**I do seem to recall they have a talent for that.**

Conan snorted mutely then began to recount what had happened. He had just finished explaining how he'd stopped the argument that had broken out between Mitsuhiko and Genta when a voice suddenly broke through his concentration.

"Texting with someone? How unusual for you."

Conan started, accidentally sending the text he’d been working on mid-word. He looked up to find Haibara, much closer than the last time he'd seen her, leaning down to look at the screen. He quickly pulled the phone away and sent a glare at her. Before he could tell her to mind her own business a head popped over the back of the seat in front of them.

"You're texting someone?" Mitsuhiko asked. "I thought you were just checking the news again or something!"

Conan's sighed silently as two more heads joined the first. Knowing he wasn't likely to get any more privacy any time soon, he sent a quick **g2g** then stuffed the phone in his pocket.

"Who are you talking to, Conan-kun?" Ayumi asked.

"Anyone we know? Ah!" Genta suddenly started and turned all the way around towards him, rising up a little and putting his arms on the top of the seat, likely kneeling on his knees to do so. "It better not be a case!"

"I bet it is!" Mitsuhiko glared as he and Ayumi also turned fully around to match Genta's pose. All three heads were aligned as well, Conan noted, which meant that Mitsuhiko was probably standing on the chair and Ayumi was holding herself up by just her arms – a theory that was supported by a slight trembling present in her arms that the other two lacked. "You're always trying to leave us out!"

"You can't do that Conan-kun!" Ayumi scolded. "The Shounen-tantei-dan have to work as a team!"

Before Conan could think of some sort of excuse an explosion of sound erupted from the driver's seat.

_"You three sit down! NOW!_ "

The three instantly toppled out of sight, and Ayumi would have fallen to floor if Ran hadn't caught her.

"Dad! You don't have to be so loud!" Ran glared at him.

While Kogoro grunted at her, his next words were at a much lower decibel level. "I am _not_ about to get pulled over because of them! I'd miss Yoko-chan's drama!"

Ran rolled her eyes at her father, but her attention was pulled away by three voices whining to her in protest.

"Conan-kun's working on a case without us again!" was the general meaning of all three cries.

"I am not!"

"Eh?" Ran looked between them and Conan.

"He's been texting with someone for a while now," Haibara chimed in. She sent him the usual smirk she reserved for such situations, but Conan could also see curiosity in her eyes and scrunched brow.

"Oh…" Ran's face suddenly cleared and Conan suddenly remembered with a sinking feeling that she'd been there when Kuroba had given him his number. "I bet he's texting Kuroba-kun!" She turned to him with a smile, "Am I right?"

Conan nodded hesitantly, knowing that as soon as he did –

"Kuroba-kun?" Ayumi asked, looking at Genta and Mitsuhiko who both shook their head, then to Ai who did the same. "Who's that?"

"It's…uh…" Even knowing the question was coming, he still wasn't ready to answer it. In a way, he was still trying to find an answer to it himself.

"Kuroba Kaito," Ran said stepping up (for better or worse) to explain. "He's a boy around my age. His and Conan-kun's families know each other and the two happened to meet in Kitanosawa, where Kuroba-kun's class was on a field trip. Right Conan-kun?" She smiled at him.

"Yep!" Conan forced a smile, acutely aware of the suspicious look Haibara was giving him. Agasa, who was sitting up in the front passenger seat, was also looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Aww! You should have introduced us then, Conan-kun!" Ayumi pouted. The two boys quickly voiced their agreement.

"You guys were still at the station giving your statements at the time," Ran soothed. "And Kuroba-kun had to get back to his class." She smiled as all three slumped in disappointment. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get to meet him sometime. He did mention that he wanted to spend time with Conan-kun after all."

"Oh!" Ayumi's eyes were bright again as the turned them on Conan. "Is that what you two were talking about Conan-kun? When you could get together?"

"No, that's…" but the trio didn't hear him as they began to converse amongst themselves.

"We still have three more days of vacation left. He should come tomorrow!" Genta exclaimed eagerly.

"That's too soon, Genta-kun!" Mitsuhiko shook his head. "My sister told me that you have to leave people alone the day after a school trip."

"Why?" The other two asked simultaneously. The two often looked to Mitsuhiko, the only one of the group with an older sibling, for the answers the mysteries of "teenagers" and their odd behaviors.

"Because they're really tired and need to rest," Mitsuhiko held a single figure up in front of him, a serious look on his face as he whispered. "The day after my sister got home from her last school trip, she slept practically the _whole_ day! Apparently, school trips in high school are _really_ exhausting!"

' _Oi oi…_ ' Conan sweatdropped.

"Ok, so not tomorrow." Ayumi frowned. Conan opened his mouth to say something, maybe try to regain some control over the situation (it _was_ supposed to be his family friend after all), but Genta easily drowned him out.

"And the day before school starts isn't good either. That's the day for holiday homework." He suddenly got a sour look on his face as he added in a grumble, "I'm gonna be busy all day…"

"You mean you haven't done _any_ of it yet?" Ayumi stared at him, her eyes growing wider with every word.

"Course not! That's what the last day of break is for!"

"That's not how you're supposed to do it, Genta-kun!" Mitsuhiko scolded. "You're supposed to do it little by little over the entire break!"

"If I did _that_ it wouldn't feel like a break!" Genta scowled and crossed his arms over his chest.

Mitsuhiko opened his mouth to argue, then paused and let out a resigned sigh. "Ok. Fine. The last day of break is out too."

"So if the first and last days are out…" Genta uncrossed his arms.

"That just leaves…" Ayumi looked around and the three shared a smile.

"The day after tomorrow!" Three simultaneous voices announced.

"Let Kaito-niisan know, okay Conan-kun?" Ayumi beamed at him.

' _So now you remember me, huh?_ ' He looked to Ran, hoping for some help, but she'd gone back to her conversation with Sonoko at some point, completely dismissing the situation she'd help create. Agasa had also turned back around, though Shinichi was willing to bet the crazy inventor was still listening; a slight shaking in his shoulders provided a hint as to why his old friend wasn't stepping up to say anything. And of course, Haibara was clearly not going be any help – she'd have stepped in by now if she was in one of her (rare) generous moods.

He was on his own.

* * *

 

Some time later, many miles away in a bus filled with colorful chaos a phone buzzed and displayed a single line of text:

**Are you free the day after tomorrow?**

 


	8. Omake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An omake (extra) to chapter 7. Originally written as part of chapter 7 but cut due to it getting a little...over the top. I leave it up to my readers to decide whether it is canon or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is written from the POV of a random original character than won't appear again - I'd wanted to try something new.

* * *

 

Yamato Iseyama had been a bus driver for decades. He had chauffeured groups of all ages large and small and for every kind of event imaginable. Yet he could honestly say he had _never_ had a passenger like Kuroba Kaito before.

When Iseyama had arrived at Kitanosawa, he'd pulled in behind the local depot to grab some food and use the facilities before going to the designated pick up spot. When he'd left a short while later, a grinning teenager was leaning up against the doors of the bus waiting for him. Upon seeing Iseyama the boy stepped forward and promised that his bus would reach the Tokyo depot in the same condition it was then and that Iseyama should just ignore anything that happens in the interim.

A few demonstrations later, and a negotiated "off-limit" space around the driver's seat, Iseyama reluctantly agreed. He was suddenly suspicious of the trip's original driver's sudden sickness which had prevented him from doing the return trip.

As the bus rolled down the highway, Iseyama stared resolutely out the front windshield, glancing regularly at the many mirrors that allowed him to see the traffic all around the bus, all the while studiously ignoring the madness happening behind him. They'd been on the road for close to three hours now and already the ride so far had been unlike anything he'd ever seen, heard or even _dreamt_ of.

The interior of the bus had undergone several color scheme changes - with many of the student's clothes and/or hair made to match. Doves – and Iseyama would swear he even spotted a turkey at one point in one of his mirrors – appeared and disappeared mid-air in bursts of smoke or glitter only to reappear as they erupted from various articles of clothing.

Shrieks and laughter regularly erupted from the passengers, most either surprised or embarrassed (the latter usually having to do with where certain doves emerged from), but one shriek had sounded like that of angry banshee and resulted in an acrobatic mop chase between the magician and a wild haired girl (where she'd gotten said mop Iseyama was still trying to figure out).

Then, shortly after they'd left a rest area, Kuroba had suddenly stopped what he was doing and pulled out his phone. He'd grinned, snapped his fingers and then took his seat in a suddenly completely ordinary bus.

Minus one short interruption in which the boy who sat behind Kuroba found himself a great deal more pink and feathery than when he'd boarded the bus, the peace lasted for well over an hour. Judging by the furtive glances several of his classmates kept sending him, this was clearly unusual (though not unusual enough, Iseyama noted, for anyone to approach him and ask about it).

Suddenly, Kuroba blinked at his phone's screen before snapping it shut with a frown. He glanced out the window at the snow covered landscape steadily passing by, pulled a face, then lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. More than half the bus flinched at the sound as smoke filled the interior of the bus (but which, somehow, failed to reach Iseyama's seat).

As the smoke cleared, all the old driver could do was stare as the rear-view mirror revealed a sight that looked as though it had been taken straight off of a beach. Sand covered the floor, parasols blocked out the suddenly much brighter interior lights, and the seats suddenly looked like beach chairs with towels draped across. And of course, everyone had been dressed in swimsuits to match the scenery.

An angry screech heralded the beginning of another mop chase. Most of the girls, many bright red and with towels wrapped about them, decided to join in on the attempt to catch the madman. Kuroba just cackled as he easily dodged the grasping hands and swinging mop, dying a few people's hair as he passed.

Iseyama had just resolved himself to say something after one of his passengers was nearly decapitated for the third time that day when the magician suddenly froze mid-step and a cloud of smoke erupted around him. A moment later, Iseyama noticed a buzzing sound near his seat and turned to find the crazy teen again pulling out his phone beside the driver's seat.

In the rear-view, Iseyama saw several students grab the wild-haired girl and hold her back as they too noticed the phone. He had no doubt they were thinking the same thing he was: ' _Whoever is on the other end of the line,_ _please have_ a lot _to talk about.'_

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV's in this chapter will be Haibara and Kaito - though please let me know if these notes are necessary or if it's self-evident (I'm hoping it is)

* * *

 

Haibara propped herself against the jamb of the door leading to the professor’s kitchen where Kudo was currently filling a glass of water in the sink with the help of a footstool. Behind her, the rest of the Shounen-tantei-dan were clamoring about in the living room as they finished getting ready for their day out. Ran and the professor were there as well and helping to make sure everyone had what they needed (and prevent them from taking a lot of things they _wouldn't_ need). With everyone else at last sufficiently distracted, Haibara had finally gotten the opportunity to speak with Kudo alone.

She crossed her arms and let her full displeasure appear on her face as she spoke aloud.

"Isn't it about time you told me?"

Kudo couldn’t quite hide the flinch, the water in his glass sloshing slightly at her voice. Though whether he was reacting to her sudden voice or the glare within it she couldn’t say; she hoped it was the latter.

"What are you talking about?" he turned the faucet off and stepped down with his glass of water. He shot her a quizzical look that she didn't buy for a moment. She darkened her scowl.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. This Kuroba boy. How is it that he's a 'family friend' when Edogawa Conan is a false identity and therefore _has no family?"_

Conan finished his drink, shooting her at irritated look as he brought the cup down from his face. She didn't back down. Seeing this, Conan rolled his eyes and sighed before turning around. Standing on his tiptoes to put the glass in the sink, he finally spoke without looking at her.

"Nobody ever mentioned the Edogawa family."

"What? What do you…"

Conan just looked at her over his shoulder.

Her eyes suddenly widened in realization. "You don't mean!" She glanced around before quickly approaching the detective. "You don't mean family friends with the _Kudos!?"_

"His dad taught my mom the art of disguise," Conan revealed, not quite meeting her eyes as he ignored the horror she knew was on her face.

"You…" Haibara struggled to wrap her mind around what she'd learned. "Don't tell me he _knows_?"

"Not the details, but yes." Conan shrugged, still not meeting her eyes. "He knows I'm _me_."

 _"Idiot!"_ Haibara managed to scream while still whispering. She took a step closer. "Are you insane!? You barely know him!" That much had been obvious to her due to the lack of clear answers to the many questions the kids had asked over the last day and a half. "So what if your mom knew his dad? That's–"

"Haibara," Blue eyes finally met hers and she fell silent at the confident defiance she saw in them. "There's more to it than that, alright? I just…can't go into it with you." He scratched his head. "At least not now – not without speaking to him first. Although…" he grinned lopsidedly, "you might figure it out when you meet him, now that I think about it."

"What do you mean?"

Conan just shrugged. "Just wait and see. You can deal with at least that much. You _are_ the one mostly responsible today's outing, after all," he glared at her slightly.

Haibara almost winced. She hadn't needed Conan to remind her, she'd been well aware of the fact for a while. In her defense though, it had just been so _odd_ to see Kudo texting with someone and for such a long time. At first she’d thought he’d just been talking with Hattori about the case – she knew they communicated fairly regularly though it was usually the Osakan detective who initiated the exchanges. But the more she'd watched him out of the corner of her eyes the more she'd doubted that initial suspicion. The expressions Kudo was making just hadn’t been those that she'd expect in such an exchange between the two. Plus, it had gone on so _long_. Kudo was usually terse in his phone conversations – she'd heard the Osakan complain more than once about Kudo's habit of hanging up on him.

Finally letting her curiosity win out, she'd asked him about it. Admittedly, she supposed she could have been a bit more discreet about it, but after the scare he'd given all of them with that avalanche she felt he'd more than deserved to squirm a little. Or at least that's how she'd seen it.

"Conan-kun, Ai-chan." Ran smiled as she walked up to them and cut their conversation off. "Are you ready? He'll be here any minute."

"Yes Ran-neechan!" Conan gave her his little boy smile, instantly falling into his usual character.

"Y-yes, I'm ready," Haibara also quickly switched masks, though not quite as seamlessly as Kudo had. She and Conan both followed Ran into the living room to wait with the rest of the group. The teen glanced at her watch just as the doorbell rang.

"Right on time!" she grinned down at the kids as she began to walk towards the door. "I think you'll all be really surprised when you meet him!" She giggled a little.

As the other kids trailed after her, trying unsuccessfully to get an explanation for the cryptic comment, Haibara noticed Conan give a deadpan look before he also began to follow. With nothing else to do, she joined them in front of the door just as Ran reached out to open it.

When she saw the person on the other side of the door, Haibara was just glad she was at the back of the group. Otherwise, someone might have seen her nearly fall down in shock as she was faced with what appeared to be an unprecedented temporal and/or spatial anomaly right in front of her eyes.

' _T-two Kudos!?'_ She stared between the two, her mind racing.

Suddenly she recalled having this thought before, though at that time she hadn't been quite so shocked. They'd been at a Kid heist after all, and she'd known (though hadn't been happy with) the fact that Kid knew about Kudo's shrinkage. She'd admit to being surprised that there hadn't been a mask but she'd immediately grasped the situation (and even got a fair bit of amusement out of it). But this couldn't be Kid. For one, Kid was much better at disguises than this; the more she looked at their visitor, the more differences she began to notice between him and the real Kudo. They _did_ look very similar but…

' _Wait. That time. Kid_ hadn't used a mask. _Didn't Kudo even say it was probably because Kid likely looked a great deal like him and therefore didn't need one? It…couldn't be.'_ She stared at the teen at the door while the other kids clamored to meet him. She only barely registered that they were speaking.

"You're really not Shinichi-niichan? You look so much like him!"

"Are you related? Are you twins?"

"Are you a high school detective like him?"

The teen blinked, clearly taken a little aback at the sudden barrage of questions before he laughed and squatted down to their eye-level. "No, I'm not related to Shinichi-san, and I'm not a detective either." He held up a hand and clenched it into a fist in front of Ayumi. A moment later, a yellow rose popped out of the previously empty hand as he presented it the girl. "I'm a magician. Kuroba Kaito. Nice to meet you."

"Wow! That was great Kaito-nii-san!" Ayumi beamed as she held the flower before she began introducing everyone.

Haibara didn't even hear her speaking, her attention riveted on the flower her friend was still holding. _'A magician…?'_ She recalled what Conan had said to her not five minutes ago.

_"You might figure it out when you meet him, now that I think about it."_

' _No way…?'_ Her mind raced, going over all the information she had. The expressions Conan had had while texting. Kuroba's father apparently teaching Kudo's mother _disguises_. The fact that they'd apparently met at Kitanosawa, where they'd witnessed that ski contest; Haibara recalled thinking how similar the teen had looked to the real thing. And hadn't Kudo wandered off right after that contest?

"And this is Ai-chan!"

Haibara started as a hand landed on her shoulder. She looked at Ayumi beaming cheerfully at her, and then at the magician she'd just been introduced to who was still squatting at their level.

"Nice to meet you, Ai-chan!"

"Haibara," she corrected coolly, a polite smile on her face that she knew wouldn't reach her eyes. She wasn't sure if she was impressed or not that the teen barely blinked before once again smiling winningly at her.

"Haibara-chan, then." He held out his hand and presented her a rose as well. She stared at him for several seconds before giving a mental sigh and taking it.

She sent a glare at Kudo, who pretended not to notice, as the teen stood up looking satisfied. For now, she'd just go along with things while being sure to keep a careful eye on Kuroba. She would corner Kudo later.

"Well, then. How about we head to the park?" Kuroba announced to the group at large. The kids let out an enthusiast cry and ran out the door to wait in the yard. She and Kudo both began walking at a more sedate pace, but they paused, just out of immediate sight, when they heard Ran speak quietly to Kuroba.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come along?" Ran spoke quietly to Kuroba. "They can be a bit of a handul at times. Especially Conan-kun."

Haibara sent Kudo an amused look, who looked like he couldn't decide whether to grimace or scowl.

"Really? Him? I _never_ would have imagined it…" Kuroba glanced in their direction, and Haibara had the distinct impression that he knew the two were there and listening.

"He's not bad!" Ran was quick to reassure. "Really, he's just the sweetest." Haibara grinned again as she noticed a distinct redness crawling up Kudo’s face. "It's just that…well he's very quick to wander off the moment you take your eyes off him."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I'm sure I'll be fine. You'd be surprised what we magicians can have up our sleeves!" He laughed and quickly snapped his fingers several times, each snap causing a different item to appear in his hand. Although her eavesdropping location offered poor vantage Haibara could make out some of the items: lollypops, a soccer ball, a deck of cards, and what she would swear was one of those child leashes she'd seen commercials for.

When the brief display was over Ran just stared at him for several seconds before she burst out laughing. "Where in the world are you keeping all of that?" She looked him over in wonder, but the magician just grinned and put a finger to his lips.

"Magic."

Haibara smirked when she noticed Conan roll his eyes.

"Well, it looks like you're well prepared. But let me know if anything happens; you have my number."

"Don't worry so much. You have my word that I'll bring them all back, safe and sound, at the appointed time." He gave a deep showman's bow, before turning in their direction.

She and Conan both moved from where they'd listened in. Haibara quickly made her way towards the kids but Conan hung back slightly. Just before she joined the kids by the gate Haibara heard Conan mutter to Kuroba.

"If I see that leash again you're getting a soccer ball up your ass."

* * *

 

' _If someone had told me a week ago that this would be how I'd be spending my afternoon…'_ Kaito shook his head with a grin as he leaned with his back against a tree in the park. ' _Ah, well. At least it's warmer now that we're back in Tokyo."_ The grin widened. _'And I gotta admit that the irony_ is _pretty amusing!'_ He glanced at his watch.

"And time! Ready or not, here I come~!" Kaito said aloud out as he pulled away from the tree. He quickly scanned the park the children had chosen for their game. After Ayumi had suggested it, Conan had said that since Kaito was new and didn't know their hiding habits, he should be the seeker. He'd also thrown Kaito a challenging smirk and discreetly ran a finger counterclockwise over the face of his watch. Kaito'd seen it for what is was: a challenge. Kaito had accepted with an equally subtle nod.

The idea of role reversal really was interesting.

The rules were simple. The kids had five minutes to hide. If Kaito wasn't able to find all of them within 30 minutes they would win, otherwise it was Kaito's win.

The sound of the kids' feet when he'd started counting had scattered in all directions so Kaito called up a mental map of the park and chose a route that would allow him to more or less see the entire park within the time limit. Almost immediately after setting off, his sharp eyes spotted a tree's shadow that was slightly wider that it should have been. Kaito shook his head. Genta's size really was a disadvantage in this sort of game. He approached the tree slowly (he didn't want to hurt the boy's pride too much, but he _was_ on a deadline) before leaning around it.

"Foooound you~!" Kaito grinned at Genta who scowled.

"I'm always the first one!" the boy grumbled.

"Sorry 'bout that," Kaito apologized with a smile. "Shall I give you some pointers for next time to make up for it?" His smile widened slightly as he imagined the look Conan would give him for giving his innocent sort-of-apprentices advice about anything.

"Really?" Genta looked slightly less disgruntled at the suggestion.

"Sure!" He winked. "I was always pretty good at this game myself."

"Well…alright," Genta nodded and Kaito laughed. He turned his attention back the surroundings as he moved on, Genta following silently along behind him as they'd planned.

A couple minutes later, movement out of the corner of his eye had Kaito snapping his attention to the right. ' _There. Those leaves.'_ A dense bush's leaves were moving slightly, out-of-sync with anything the slight wind that day would cause. Looking closer, Kaito was just able to make out the grayish blue jacket he recalled the freckled boy, Mitsuhiko, had been wearing. _'Not a bad hiding place actually. His jacket even blends pretty well with the bush's shadows.'_ The leaves wiggled again, more strongly this time and Kaito chuckled silently. ' _Now he just has to learn to stay still.'_

He quickly made his way over to the bush where he reached out to pull apart the branches concealing Mitsuhiko's face.

"Found another," he smiled at the disappointed boy.

"Ah man…I thought I'd chosen a good spot this time!"

"You did, but you have to be really still in places like this!" Kaito shook one of the branches slightly, sending all the leaves on it rustling. "The slightest movement gives you away."

He grinned as the boy's eyes widened in realization then reached a hand out to help him from the clingy greenery. As soon as the boy was free, Kaito got back to his route. Nearly five minutes had passed before Kaito finally spotted the smallest member of the group.

Ayumi had chosen a pretty good hiding place beneath the large elephant sculpture/slide that was the centerpiece of the park's playground. It was impossible to see into the crevice unless you were standing at certain angles, and shadows beneath provided cover even when the space was visible.

' _Too bad her bright pink jacket negates that cover_ ,' Kaito chuckled to himself as he approached.

"And that's three!" He grinned as he peered into the space.

"Awww…" Ayumi crawled out, a disappointed smile on her face. "How'd you find me?"

"Pink may be cute, but it doesn't work too well for hiding," Kaito winked at her.

Ayumi looked down at herself then laughed.

"You're pretty good at this, nii-san!" Genta announced.

"True, but the real test starts now!" Mitsuhiko brought up a finger and grinned.

"Oh?" Kaito glanced at them as he returned to his planned route.

"Yep! Ai-chan's always really good at this game, and so is Conan-kun!" Ayumi proudly announced.

"Well, as long as he actually remembers to hide!" Genta chuckled. Kaito blinked at that and glanced at them questioningly. As he'd expected, it was Mitsuhiko who responded to the look first, shaking his head in obvious exasperation as he explained.

"Sometimes Conan-kun gets distracted when we play hide-and-seek. There was one time when we were playing on a cruise ship. Haibara-san ended up finding him practicing soccer against a wall instead of hiding."

Kaito couldn't help but laugh as he imagined the scene.

"But you know!" Ayumi quickly jumped in. "When he does hide, he's _really_ good! And he's even better at seeking! He's never _once_ failed to find everyone within the time limit!"

"Imagine that," Kaito muttered and rolled his eyes slightly. _'You could let them win once in a while Kudo._ ' He silently admonished before glancing at the kids out the corner of his eyes with a grin. "Guess that means it's time to really get serious then huh?"

"Yep. Of course, we can't help 'cuz that'd be cheating, but good luck nii-san!" Genta cheered as the other two nodded encouragingly.

Smiling at the display, Kaito glanced at his watch; nearly 14 minutes had passed since he'd started searching. Considering the look he'd given Kaito earlier, the magician was willing to bet that the shrunken teen was going to be even better at this game than usual. Which meant he'd better find Haibara so he could focus entirely on the detective – having one's attention divided was never very effective.

Kaito looked around with a different focus than before. Unlike Ayumi, Haibara didn't seem the type who'd be willing to get dirty for the sake of a simple game. Therefore she'd choose a different type of hiding spot than any of the others. From what he recalled, the girl seemed to want to avoid drawing attention to herself. He'd also noticed during the Kirin's horn case that she had a pretty good grasp of human psychology.

 _'If you take those facts, along with that unique personality of hers…'_ Kaito thought to himself as he scanned the people present in the park. _'She's the type who's more likely to try to blend in rather than outright hide.'_ It took him a few minutes, but eventually he grinned and began walking purposefully towards a group of women and children standing around a baby carriage.

There, tucked in among several other little girls clamoring to see the newborn baby in the carriage, was Haibara.

"Oh! A baby!" Ayumi squealed as she realized what was going on. Haibara heard her and turned around. Seeing Kaito, she met his eyes then shrugged before turning her attention to Ayumi as she reached her side.

"Looks like neither of them want to leave," Kaito remarked before glancing at the boys as an idea occurred to him. "Why don't you two stay here to keep an eye on them while I finish the game?"

"Huh? Oh! Sure!" Mitsuhiko puffed his chest up at the thought of being the girls' protector. Genta looked slightly less enthusiastic but agreed as well.

 _'Perfect. One less thing to worry about while searching for Kudo.'_ Kaito thought with a grin. He'd noticed Haibara had been eyeing him ever since he arrived; it had reminded him that, whatever her situation may be, she _did_ know the truth about Kudo (the most recent proof of this was her calling him by name at the dam). And the fact that she'd been there when he'd impersonated Kudo meant he should probably watch his step around her until he could talk to Kudo about it.

 _'12 minutes left_ ,' Kaito glanced at his watch before a familiar grin made itself home on his face. ' _It's show time!'_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's chapter 9! One left! Please look forward to the finale!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV's: Conan to Haibara
> 
> Also, please see the end for a **special announcement!**
> 
> Happy reading! ^_~

* * *

 

"I can't believe you cheated."

The bubble of laughter that had been threatening to burst out of Conan since the game's conclusion made itself known again as he glanced up at the magician walking beside him and saw the sour glare aimed at him. He swallowed it down before smirking at the magician.

"I didn't cheat."

"You wore a _disguise_ –"

"I just took my glasses off and slipped on a baseball cap. I'd hardly call that a disguise. Especially considering present company." Although the fact that such a simple ruse had actually worked had probably only galled the part-time thief more. Oh well.

Kaito glared at him, " _and_ you gave your jacket to another kid and paid him to climb a tree to act as a _decoy_!"

Ok. He couldn’t refute much about _that_ part. But…

"I still didn't cheat."

"How is that not cheating!?"

Conan shook his head, more amused than be probably should be at the outrage in the other's voice, “looks like you should practice a bit more at solving riddles instead of making them." Grin never faltering, he repeated the gesture he'd shown the other before the game had started: spinning his finger counterclockwise across the face of his watch. A questioning look tinted the scowl in the other's expression and Conan continued.

"I know you got the role reversal part. Now think it through. If you'd taken on _my_ role as detective…" His grin widened as he watched the realization dawn on the other's face. He finished the reasoning silently, ' _I took on yours as the law-breaking thief._ '

"Dammit…!" Kaito muttered to himself as he scratched his head in frustration. He let out a sigh as he looked to the sky. "And I can't even complain about being caught off guard can I? That is, after all, par for the course. Heh," he looked down at Conan with a reluctant smile. "Looks like you're a better artist than I am a critic, Tantei-kun."

But Conan shook his head at that. He'd seen the way Kuroba had found the other Shounen-tantei-dan; he doubted he could have done any better if he'd been the one searching. "You just need a bit more refinement. With a bit of practice, I think you could make a pretty decent critic of yourself."

"Perish the thought!" Kaito shivered with a laugh. "I'll stick to making the mysteries."

Conan opened his mouth to respond when a familiar voice suddenly shouted, breaking the serene atmosphere.

"Hold it right there!"

"Genta?" Conan looked to where the voice had come from. Ahead of them was the group of women and children Kaito had described leaving the kids with. At the edge of the group, Genta was pointing at a man wearing a black hoodie and sunglasses who was walking past the crowd.

"You took this lady's wallet!" Mitsuhiko pointed at a woman who was standing nearby.

"We saw it!" Ayumi held her fists up in the air.

The woman in question blinked and looked into her purse just as the man took off running in the opposite direction of Conan and Kuroba. A moment later the woman screamed, "They're right! Thief! Someone catch him!"

"Leave it to us!" Genta called, the three of them already off and running.

"He won't get away from the Shounen-tantei-dan!" Mitsuhiko added.

"Wait you three!" Haibara cried out as she ran after them.  

"Those guys…!" Conan scowled as both he and Kuroba took off in pursuit as well. He reached into his pocket for his detective badge. "Oi! What do you guys think you're doing!? Stop!" He yelled into the speaker. A few moments later Genta's eager voice responded.

"Not now Conan! We're busy catching a bad guy!"

"And yet he has time to dig out that badge and answer you," Kuroba muttered and shook his head. Conan growled in agreement as he watched the pickpocket quickly approach the line of trees and bushes that ran along the street at the edge of park.

"Idiot! That's why I'm telling you to stop!" The pickpocket disappeared from sight through the tree line, the young trio quickly following suit. "It's dangerous!"

"You just want all the – _wah! Look ou-!"_ The transmission cut off at the same time as the sound of screeching tires, honking horns, and the sickening sound of crunching metal.

The breath froze in Conan's lungs.

"Ayumi! Genta! Mitsuhiko!" He screamed just as Haibara also disappeared from view, her face discernibly whiter even from a distance.

Distantly, he noticed that Kuroba had disappeared from beside him and was now several body lengths ahead of him with the gap growing. Ignoring the already painful burning in his legs, he forced his shrunken limbs to go even faster. He felt a vicious satisfaction when he noticed the gap between the magician and himself had stopped growing.

It felt like an eternity had passed since he'd heard the crash (though that always-logical distant part of his brain recognized it had been less than 10 seconds) when a sudden pop of static brought Conan's attention back to the detective badge he'd all but forgotten he was still holding in his hand.

"They're ok," Haibara voice was thick with relief and Conan felt his heart start beating again. Ahead of him he saw the magician's shoulders relax as well. A few moments later they both passed through the tree line and could confirm with their own eyes what Haibara had told them.

Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta were all huddled together near the edge of the sidewalk staring out into the street, white as sheets but unscathed.

The same couldn't be said of the red Toyota Corolla sitting across the street, halfway onto the sidewalk with its front end getting intimately familiar with a light pole. A glance at the skid marks, sudden and almost immediately veering to the side, made it clear that it had been trying to avoid something. The driver, a business man in his early 30's, was just getting out the car with hand on his head and a dazed look on his face.

' _And the_ something _he was trying to avoid…?'_ Conan asked silently as he continued to scan the scene. A blur of black motion caught his eyes and he focused on it just in time to see the pickpocket, now with a slight limp, disappear down a narrow side street not far from the damaged car.

' _He's not even bothering to check to see if anyone was hurt in the accident he caused…!'_ Conan glared in outrage, his body moving before he was even fully aware of it, though he did glance both ways before leaping off the curb – one accident was enough.

"Haibara, check on the driver!" He called, not even glancing at where she was standing with the kids. He was across the street and at the mouth of the alley a few moments later. He could see the pickpocket already preparing to turn a corner at the end.

"You're not getting away!" Conan yelled out as he released a soccer ball from his belt and knelt down to power up his shoes. He kicked the ball just as the man looked back towards his voice.

The black and white missile hit the man square in the face and sent him flying to land on his back a good five feet back, where he lay groaning in pain and barely conscious.

A whistle behind him had him spinning to see Kuroba standing there, a hand shading his eyes and a grin on his face as he stared at the pickpocket.  " _Nice_ shot. I almost feel sorry for him."

"Don't," Conan scowled darkly. "He's just lucky nobody was killed back there."

Kuroba's face sobered instantly and he nodded. Snapping his fingers, a roll of duct tape appeared in his hands. He gave Conan a slightly darker-than-usual smirk before he went over and securely bound the man's arms and legs; the detective couldn't help but notice that the magician chose to secure the tape to the man's wrists and ankles directly, instead of over his clothes. Conan couldn't bring himself to criticize the choice.

They left the man where he lay and headed back out of the alley. A police car had already arrived. Conan could see a pair of officers over by the kids. Judging by the looks on all faces involved, Conan was willing to bet the three were getting a harsh lecture regarding their reckless actions.

Haibara, who'd been leaning against the rear of the Corolla watching the kids nod and apologize to the officers, saw them come out of the alley and walked over to meet them.

"How's the driver?" Conan asked as soon as she was close enough.

"He is suffering from severe hyperextension and hyperflexion in the splenius capitus, trapezius, and splenius cervicus as well as a mild traumatic brain injury."

Beside him, he could see Kuroba's eyes growing wide in worry as the miniature scientist spoke, but Conan just leveled her with a flat look as he crossed his arms.

"So he has whiplash and a concussion," he translated. Beside him, he could almost imagine the mental prat fall magician was likely experiencing. Haibara just smirked at him, though the glance she threw at Kuroba was all but dancing in sadistic amusement.

"Correct. He'll likely be asked to stay in the hospital overnight for observation before being sent home tomorrow with pain medication and an at-home physical therapy regiment."

"In other words, he'll be fine?" Kuroba asked, still looking a bit stunned.

"Most likely, yes." Haibara smiled at him innocently. Conan huffed, rolling his eyes.

Kuroba continued to stare at Haibara for several more long seconds before he looked up and around their immediate vicinity. Seemingly satisfied with whatever he'd been looking for, he knelt down to their level before whispering to Conan.

" _Please_ tell me that she's the same as you."

* * *

 

Haibara felt her breath freeze and body tense even as she desperately told herself not to react to the wild-haired teen's words. The implication behind those words and the possible repercussions that could result sent her imagination, fueled by the material of dozens of nightmares, into overdrive.

She could see herself and Kudo, their childish masks suddenly shattering and revealing their true faces to the world, including the shadows hunting in the darkness. With their true identities revealed, those shadows would quickly converge on them to snuff them out, as well as all the people they were connected to and who they'd been so desperately trying to protect.

' _Calm down. He already knows about Kudo. Has for a long time now if he's really Kid.'_ And by now she was 99% sure he was. ' _And nothing's happened. So, it'll be fine._ '

Unfortunately, Hairaba already knew there was a problem with that hypothesis: she's not Kudo. And while their situations _were_ similar, there's a key difference.

Because the Black Organization's so focused on remaining hidden, it had adhered to a strictly need-to-know basis for information sharing among its members. That way, even if a low rank member was caught or decided to go to the police, the information they could provide about the organization as a whole was very limited. As a result of this policy, the number of people who were aware of the fact that "Kudo Shinichi was killed by the Black Organization" was relatively few.

Truthfully, had Kudo been killed by normal means, the number of people who would've known it had been by the Black Organization probably could've been counted on one hand – well, maybe two considering how well-known he and his parents are. The fact that he'd ended up being the first human test subject for APTX 4869 had brought Shiho and her fellow scientists into the loop. When a body had failed to turn up, a few more were added. Still, by the time she'd officially registered Kudo as dead in the Organization's database, she doubted more than 30 people had been made aware that Kudo Shinichi had any connection to the Black Organization.

The fact that so few within the Organization knew he was supposed to have been killed by them meant that even if a member happened to overhear Ran and Sonoko talking about him, or even if they'd seen him during one the times he'd briefly returned, the chances were fairly high that they'd fail to notice the significance of it; the only mention of it might be a passing comment one might make about seeing a celebrity on the street. And that was Kudo's biggest problem; if even one rumor or internet post about someone having seen "that famous high school detective that disappeared a while back" reached one of the 30 odd people who knew…it would all be over.

But she was different. Miyano Shiho had been in the organization practically all of her life, and her role in the development of the APTX 4869 had given her quite a bit of notoriety; she'd met or at least heard of a fair number of codenamed agents. So, as far as the Black Organization's standards went, she'd been fairly well-known. Then she'd turned traitor and vanished.

Haibara had no doubt that every codenamed agent, and possibly even some unnamed, had been ordered to memorize her face and immediately report any sign of her – she already knew that some of the higher members, like Gin, had been given permission to kill her on sight.

In other words, her true identity was much more dangerous than Conan's. It was a fact that had always weighed heavily on her mind, and a burden that she'd nearly given in to on more than one occasion. Eventually, she had come to accept it. But that didn't mean that she wasn't still acutely aware of the danger she posed to those around her.

And that was why she was still panicking now. Even if it had been safe for this Kuroba Kaito to know Kudo's identity, there was no guarantee that the same could be said of hers.

Despite her attempt to hide it, Kuroba had obviously picked up on her tension. Without waiting for a response, he turned from Kudo to her. And as he looked into her eyes, something in his expression shifted. She couldn't say how exactly, the difference was too minute, but it was a shift nonetheless. And then suddenly he was sitting down crossed-legged in front of her, a grin on his face and an understanding look in his eyes.

"You're a child prodigy like him, aren’t you?"

"Eh?" Haibara blinked, her panicked thoughts stuttering to a standstill at the unexpected words.

"That's what I'm hoping at least," Kuroba continued blithely as if she hadn't responded at all. "Because it means any comparison between me as a child to you two wouldn't count."

"Why would that matter?" Conan quipped, an eyebrow raised. Haibara glanced from him to Kuroba and back, her shaken mind struggling to reboot and process the situation.

"Of course it matters!" Kuroba held up a finger. "I happen to have a fairly good opinion of my childhood intelligence – not that I'm one to brag-"

Conan's snort interrupted him, sounding equal parts amused and disbelieving.

"Much," Kuroba conceded with a mischievous smirk, inclining his head slightly. "But if you two are rated among 'normal' kids, it would drop my own rating!"

"Oh? So you're openly admitting we're smarter than you were as a child?" Conan grinned at him.

Kuroba's faced scrunched into an annoyed frown, "Hardly. I'm saying that you can't compare the two."

"But aren't prodigies by definition smarter than their normal counterparts? If you're including yourself among the 'normal' kids then you're basically saying we're smarter than you."

"I'm saying that any comparison between the two is tainted from the start! It's like trying to rate a rabbit in a room full of doves!" Kuroba rolled his eyes dramatically.

' _He- He's giving me an out…_ ' Haibara stared at the teen, her eyes widening in realization as her mind finally freed itself from the dark visions it had conjured.

Kuroba was giving control of the situation to her. He'd left it completely up to her how much, if anything, she chose to reveal.

' _But why?'_ she mentally questioned, instinctively suspicious. ' _I don't have a repertoire with him. Not like Kudo does. Is it just because of my connection to Kudo?_ ' That was plausible, but somehow it didn't feel quite right.

Thinking back, she tried to recall the moment when the teen's demeanor had changed. ' _Right. It was when he noticed how tense I was.'_ She'd been too absorbed in her mind's imaginings to really take much in at the time, but now, as she ran through those few moments with a clear head, she realized something.

After all of her experiences in the Organization, Haibara knew a poker face when she saw one; she'd already admitted to herself that Kuroba Kaito had one of the best she'd ever come across. But at that moment, when he'd sat down and met her at equal level, he'd allowed the mask to drop from his eyes.

The understanding in his eyes had been real.

The last shreds of doubt she'd had regarding the other's identity fell away completely. The wild-haired magician still bantering with Kudo in front of her really was the infamous thief Kaitou Kid.

And because he was Kaitou Kid he could understand.

_"There's more to it than that, alright?"_

That's what Kudou had told her when she'd asked how he could let Kuroba know his identity just because of their family connection. Once she'd realized his likely identity, she'd thought he'd been referring to the fact that the thief had figured out the truth without being told. But it was more than that.

Kuroba Kaito was also someone who lived a second life nobody could know about. He too faced dire consequences if anyone realized the truth – and not only arrest; Haibara knew you didn't get to be as infamous as Kaitou Kid without making enemies in the underworld. He'd understood completely what Haibara had been going through because he'd gone through it himself.

' _And likely very recently as well, if Kudo-kun stuck to his usual methods,'_ Haibara almost smiled at the thought.

Seeming to finally sense her stare, Kuroba turned away from Conan and refocused on her. She sensed him studying her for a few moments before he grinned widely.

"So Haibara-san? You never answered! Are you a rabbit? Or a dove?"

Haibara blinked at the teen for several moments, while her brain processed the seemingly incongruent question. ' _I'm starting to get the feeling that that's a common effect of being around him…'_ She mentally shook her head before reexamining the situation.

Kuroba Kaito could understand their situation. No. More than that. He could _relate_ to it; he could _empathize_ with it. Probably better than anyone outside the shrunken pair themselves. In addition, there was this new friendship between him and Kudo. Logically, Haibara recognized that Kuroba was probably safe.

But her paranoia wasn't something that was so easily overcome; it wouldn't let her ignore the 'probably' in that sentence. Probably wasn't the same as certainly. So for now, perhaps it was best to take the out Kuroba had given her.

But she'd do so her own way.

She tilted her head as if in thought before shaking her head, "I think I'm more of a hawk myself."

"A hawk?" Kuroba blinked. Beside him, Conan raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yep!" Haibara smiled, pulling up her own childish persona. She threw her arms into the air as she spoke, "they fly high up all on their own and observe the world from a distance with their sharp eyes! Plus…" She let both her arms and mask fall as she smirked at him, "they've been known to prey on both rabbits and doves."

The wide-eyed startled, almost-but-not-quite-scared look on Kid's face was absolutely priceless; Conan's deadpan was also pretty amusing. Holding back laughter, she turned her back on them and made her way back toward the kids.

' _So. A hidden friendship between a detective and a thief, huh?'_ She thought to herself. ' _Well, maybe I'll at least get some entertainment out of it at.'_

A commotion at the mouth of the alley brought her attention there just in time to see a man with a heavily bruised face and duct taped limbs hopping between a pair of police officers towards a cruiser.

As she glanced over at Kudo and Kuroba and saw a remarkably similar smirk on both of their faces, she decided to delete the 'maybe' from her previous thought.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes A Snowy Meeting! But! It's not the end. I'm finally going to start publishing the sequel! It's going to be crossposted simultaneously here and at FF, though I'd probably recommend reading it here (editing is a lot easier, plus I can be more creative with emoji's here, lol - ALTHOUGH I would recommend a peek at FF to the check out the cover images I have for both stories). 
> 
> I'll be publishing the first chapter on Kid's birthday and the title of it appeared in this chapter! See if you can figure it out!  
> See you then!


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